The internationally acclaimed exhibition Wildlife Photographer of the Year returns to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, opening on 6 March.


© Ralf Schneider ‘Sleeping like a Weddell’, Highly Commended 2019, Black and White category.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and exhibition is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. A panel of international experts selected the awarded images from almost 50,000 entries by the world’s best photographers for the 55th annual exhibition, which premiered in London last October. This year’s display will be ‘bigger and better than ever’, with award-winning images which capture fascinating animal behaviour, spectacular species and the breathtaking diversity of the natural world. It will feature more than 100 stunning lightbox displays.

Two Australians were highly commended finalists in the competition:
– Wayne Jones has a passion for the underwater world and runs an academy which strives for creativity and excellence in underwater photography. His striking composition features a juvenile argonaut, which is part of the octopus family, hitching a ride atop a small brightly coloured jellyfish.
– A marine scientist and photojournalist by trade, Justin Gilligan strives to combine his scientific background and artistic flare to create images that draw the viewer’s attention to the beauty of the natural world and issues therein. His image explores the colliding views of the abundance or pest of one of Australia’s most prominent symbols, the kangaroo.

To coincide with the exhibition opening, one of the museum’s signature Ocean Talks, entitled Signals from the Ocean will be held on the evening of 5 March, featuring wildlife photographer, explorer and conservationist Michael Aw and coral scientist Dr Emma Camp. Michael Aw has been awarded in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competitions in 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2015.

The exhibition will open at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney’s Darling Harbour on Friday 6 March 2020 and run until Sunday 11 October 2020. Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for children, $15 for concession and $50 for families. Children (under 4) and museum members are free. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.