Above: Caught in the Headlights
Simone Baumeister / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, now in its 61st year, will open at Auckland War Memorial Museum in June 2026.
On loan from the Natural History Museum in London, the exhibition features exceptional nature photography from across the globe.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is a long-running international photography competition established in 1965. Today, it receives more than 60,000 entries from 113 countries and territories worldwide. The exhibition presents 100 images selected by an international jury, highlighting artistic composition, technical innovation and powerful storytelling about the natural world.
Bence Máté / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Kutub Uddin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Ralph Pace / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Award-winning images on display
As part of the wider Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, the Nuveen People’s Choice Award is decided by public vote. The winner was announced in March and the winning photograph is displayed in the exhibition.
Austrian photographer Josef Stefan has been named the People’s Choice winner for his image Flying Rodent, capturing a playful Iberian lynx in Spain – following a record-breaking 85,917 public votes worldwide.
Josef Stefan / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The exhibition also features the top award-winning images, announced late last year. These include Wildlife Photographer of the Year winner Wim van den Heever for his image Ghost Town Visitor. It’s a haunting yet mesmerising image of a rare brown hyena visiting the skeletal remains of a long-abandoned diamond mining town in Kolmanskop, Namibia.
Wim van den Heever / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year was awarded to Andrea Dominizi, aged 17. Their image After the Destruction tells a poignant tale of habitat loss. Framed against abandoned machinery, the image spotlights a longhorn beetle in the Lepini Mountains of central Italy, an area once logged for beech trees.
Andrea Dominizi / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Powerful visual storytelling
Auckland Museum director of audience engagement Victoria Travers says: “It’s a privilege to bring Wildlife Photographer of the Year back to Auckland and share some of the most compelling photos taken of our natural world today. It’s an opportunity to see both the beauty of our planet and the challenges it faces.”
Bertie Gregory / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Christopher Paetkau / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Emmanuel Tardy / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Marina Cano / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Parham Pourahmad / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Sitaram Raul / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Dr Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, says: “Now in its 61st year, we are thrilled to continue Wildlife Photographer of the Year as a powerful platform for visual storytelling, showing the diversity, beauty and complexity of the natural world and humanity’s relationship to it. With the inclusion of our Biodiversity Intactness Index, this year’s exhibition will be our best combination of great artistry and groundbreaking science yet, helping visitors to become inspired to be advocates for our planet.”
Bidyut Kalita / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Jamie Smart / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Kesshav Vikram / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Leana Kuster / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Luca Lorenz / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Luca Lorenz / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The exhibition at Auckland Museum is open from June 28 to August 23, 2026.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, and supported by local exhibition partner Lindblad Expeditions.
