I was one of the judges for these awards – the judging was in early January and the book is out and was selling well at the Bird Fair last weekend. That’s pretty good going.
The cover photograph, of American Flamingos at a flamingo sanctuary in Madrid, and by Pedro Jarque Krebs from Peru, was not only the winner of the ‘Creative’ category but was also the overall winner. We felt that it was a masterful use of photographic technique and digital software to create a stunning image. Even though last year’s winner was also of flamingos we all thought that this image was outstanding.
Having said that, the competition and this book were both full of superb and memorable images of birds.
As a judge I got to see many hundreds of images (these were the shortlisted ones!) on my home computer before Christmas and had to highlight those few score that I thought were the best across seven categories; Best Portrait, Birds in the Environment, Attention to Detail, Bird Behaviour, Birds in Flight, Garden and Urban Birds and Creative Imagery. When we gathered together after Christmas in a small room in central London we had to whittle those down to category winners and runners up and the overall winner. That process was accomplished with good humour but also with keen argument and quite a few laughs. Did we pick the right images as winners? You can decide by looking through the wealth of images in this beautiful book.
As a judge with no expertise in photography (absolutely none at all, let’s be honest) I was particularly interested in the categories of Birds in the Environment and Bird Behaviour because I reckon I know something about those subjects. The overall winners in both those categories were both superb – and they still are and they look so good in this book.
Richard Shucksmith won not only the Bird Behaviour category but also the People’s Choice Award and his photograph, from Shetland, of Gannets chasing discarded fish under the water, while other Gannets fly overhead, is a striking study. Yes, the birds were attracted in with discarded fish but the movement of the sea, of the birds through the water and in the air were captured so memorably. You can look into the eyes of three hunting Gannets and see killers in action.
The Birds in Environment winner was of a distant Ostrich walking across a sand dune in Namibia and was taken by Salvador Colvee from Spain. This was one of a few images which I remember seeing and needing a few moments to realise what I was looking at. In the judging process we didn’t know who the photographers were but nor did we get any information about what the photographer was attempting to capture in the image. This image touched me deeply and, not that it necessarily matters, I was pleased to see that the photographer’s short description of his reason for submitting this image were very much in line with what I took from it. You can read his words and my words in this book. And you can work out what this image and hundreds of others mean to you.
The winners were announced at the Bird Fair last weekend and you can see some fine examples of the images until 8 September at the After Nyne Gallery, 10 Portland Road, Holland Park. But the book is the very best way to see and read about these amazing photographs – and to ‘own’ them for ever. The book is superbly produced.
Bird Photographer of the Year: collection three (with a Foreword by the Head Judge, Chris Packham) is published by Harper Collins.
Remarkable Birds by Mark Avery is published by Thames and Hudson – for reviews see here.
Inglorious: conflict in the uplands by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here.
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