The best nature photos of 2015 on display at CosmoCaixa

Barcelona (CNA).- CosmoCaixa science museum has opened its doors to a replica of the exhibition ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ of the Natural History Museum in London. This exhibition displays the best photos of the eponymous competition that the institution holds annually with BBC Wildlife Magazine publication. 100 pictures selected by the London museum will arrive in Barcelona, based on CosmoCaixa’s request of that they be those that most “stimulate defence of biodiversity and protection of the environment”, stated the director of Research and Knowledge of the ‘Fundació la Caixa’ foundation, Jordi Portabella. The 100 selected images out of the 42,000 received in the eponymous contest put forth by BBC Wildlife Magazine are ‘retro-lit’ and are separated into four categories. Among the images on display are the two winners from 2015 by Don Gutoski and Ondrej Pelánek, respectively titled ‘A tale of two Foxes’ and ‘Ruffs on Display’. 

The ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ exhibition held at the CosmoCaixa museum, formerly the Science Museum of Barcelona, includes 100 nature photographs taken by amateur and professional photographers from 96 countries, selected by the Natural History Museum in London as the best out of the 42,000 photos received in the previous contest. The contest put forth by BBC Wildlife Magazine was held for the first time in 1965 and over the years has become a global benchmark forum on nature photography.

The photos on display are selected not only for their photographic value and their aesthetic beauty, but because the CosmoCaixa wants to highlight the ability of images to “create awareness” of the importance of biodiversity. The selection of images is, therefore, in the urrent director of Research and Knowledge of the ‘Fundació la Caixa’ Jordi Portabella “stimulus” for the need to protect biodiversity and “care for the natural environment”.

The images are organised into four distinct categories: terrestrial diversity, terrestrial environments, first/rough/raw photos, raw land and terrestrial design. One of the peculiarities of the exhibition is that the photographs are ‘retro-lit’, i.e. displayed with light that comes from inside the frame in which they are placed. “This is the type of display that most respects the image, as if it were the original”, said Portabella.

The winning photos of the contest are on display in Barcelona

Among the photographs chosen there are two images that won two major awards, Nature Photographer of the Year 2015 and Young Nature Photographer of the Year 2015. The first was given to Don Gutoski, for the photograph ‘A tale of two Foxes’, which was captured in the Wapusk National Park in Canada and depicts a red fox hunting a white fox. This poignant scene speaks of climate change, as it is in fact due to the ice melting that the red fox is expanding its territory northwards, converting the dead and bloodied body of the Arctic fox into the symbol of a decision we must take.

The Young Nature Photographer of the Year 2015 award was presented to fourteen-year-old Ondrej Pelánek, a young Czech photographer, for his picture ‘Ruffs on Display’, who in Norway immortalised a battle scene between male ruffs for the females of the area.