Wildlife Photographer Of The Year comes to Cheshire

The exhibition which showcases the wonderful talent of wildlife photographers from all over the globe has landed in Chester. For the very first time the project, on loan from the Natural History Museum London, will be able to be viewed until the end of March 2025 at Chester Zoo.

Our volunteer communications and PR assistant, Molly, headed to an evening session at the event last Friday. Here, she details her experience.

Arrival

It is still light as we make our way through the zoo, and it is quite magical being witness to the unexpected stillness that being in a zoo out of hours brings. We see water buffalo heading in for the evening and can hear the distant calls of the apes next door. Upon reaching the entrance of the old Ape House, where the exhibition takes place, we see twinkling fairy lights leading up to the door.

Once inside the exhibition we are offered a choice of an alcoholic drink or sparkling elderflower cordial. We then browse at our own pace.

Exhibition

To the front of the building sit multiple enormous holographic screens, onto which the top twenty-five images (out of thousands of applications) are projected. These included images of a fox hunting a mouse in crisp snow, and ants attacking an iridescent beetle ferociously.

The images are some of the finest and clearest we had ever seen. They project the wild world with full magnitude across the room, where people have now fallen silent. Comfy benches are dotted for those needing to sit, as we all watch mesmerised.

Once we are able to pull ourselves away from the projections, we walk past a small shop selling souvenirs of the exhibition to the back area of the room, where many other collections of photos are housed.

These photos didn’t make the top twenty-five winners but won merit, whether in the youth section of the competition or for being the most thought-provoking. Others include mention of photographers who have taken steps to help to document the devastating impact of climate change or human intervention within nature.

Themes

I was particularly moved by one image that showed over twenty-five pieces of plastic found in one bird’s digestive tract, a sadly common reality called “plasticosis” which ultimately leads to premature death in birds.

Another image that stuck in my mind is one of a shark lashing out with its final strength after being caught in fishing nets. It tried to show the death as shocking and preventable; the shark being caught up in an industry much bigger than itself. This by-fishing, the image stated, is all too common and as there are few legal consequences for the catchers, it is causing the loss of many sharks and even putting species at risk.

The power and the sheer beauty of nature was projected so perfectly in all of the images that it took my breath away.

A particular favourite of mine was a shot of a peregrine falcon, wings outstretched, gaze fixed, on a butterfly floating mere inches away from its beak.

After taking the whole hour to view as much of each image as we could, we are ready to hop on the courtesy bus back to our car.

We both leave feeling in awe and peaceful at the work being done to protect, promote and respect the natural world.

Tickets

The evening sessions are now fully booked, but you can still visit the exhibition during the daytime as a zoo visitor. Entry to the exhibition is included in the zoo ticket price.

Accessibility

One carer’s ticket is available free with any full-price ticket – you’ll need to provide supporting documentation on arrival. Disabled parking is available close to the zoo entrance, and the route to the exhibition is on level paths with a ramp to the door. Once inside, the exhibition is step-free. There is detailed accessibility information on the zoo’s website.

More information

Visit Chester Zoo

Note – Molly attended the event using her own funds and was not paid/asked to write this opinion piece.