The winners of the prestigious British Wildlife Photography Awards have just been announced, chosen from more than 13,000 submitted images celebrating the beauty and brutality of Britain's nature.
An image of a red fox moving through a woodland that has been partially destroyed by industrialism has claimed this year's grand prize, and 28-year-old British photographer Charlie Page is the recipient of the £5,000 grand prize ( approximately $6,000 / AU$9,100).
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We don't often see some of nature's most fateful impacts in the UK – at least in comparison with devastating Australian wildfires and American tornadoes – but we do have our own problem areas that include poaching, fox hunting and industrialism.
Page's winning image (below), captured at Lee Valley Park in England, may not show catastrophic hurricanes or blazing fires. It does, however, remind us that local animals and wildlife across the UK are still losing their homes as the total population of cities grows, and the affordable housing crisis worsens.
The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) 2023 aims to showcase images of wildlife taken solely in the UK, while highlighting the great wealth and diversity of Britain’s natural history. It's also a crucial reminder of what value our woodlands, wetlands and other ecosystems still hold in Britain.
"I knew this area was frequented by foxes, and I wanted to take an image with the industrial backdrop to show the devastation caused to this local woodland that the fox calls home," said Page. "I hope that wildlife photographers aren’t faced with similar scenes in years to come."
The RSPB Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2023 title was awarded to Billy Evans-Freke for his image (above) of a tawny owlet resting in a tree in East Sussex, England.
This award is supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds with the aim of encouraging younger people to get involved with nature and photography. Billy also won the 15-17 Years category with this image.
"The talented photographers in this year’s competition have given us an exceptional window into Britain's nature," said Will Nicholls, director of the BWPA. "It’s an important reminder of the wildlife and wild spaces that still remain in the UK, and are in need of our care and protection."
All awarded and top-tier winning images will be published as a collection by Bird Eye Books in a hardback coffee table format, which is now available to purchase online with a foreword by none other than Dame Judi Dench.
On another exciting note, the BWPA 2024 competition is now open for entries via the awards website and invites photographers of all abilities to submit their photos.
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