A white-tailed eagle in Finland ruffles its feathers, ready to pounce on a bag of nuts. A newborn seal in Germany rolls in the sand, laughing hysterically. A monkey in Madagascar leaps into the air, fists aimed at the camera. These are just three photographs, energized and ebullient, that are in competition for this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
The competition is the brainchild of photographers Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hicks, who believe that combining exceptional wildlife photography with humor effectively spreads environmental awareness. “Issues of wildlife conservation and sustainability are gaining momentum globally,” Joynson-Hicks writes in a statement on their Web site, “but the messages and images tend to be negative, depressing, and enervating.”
Launched in 2015, the contest received 1,500 entries in its first year. Since then, viewers have come to expect animal-kingdom imagery that is fun and funny. This year, competition is fierce: 9,000 photographs from 98 countries were submitted, and a panel of judges—made up of photographers, conservationists, and comedians—has zeroed in on 40 finalists. On December 10, we will learn who bagged the top prize: a week-long safari based at Alex Walker’s Serian, a luxury lodge in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, in Kenya.
Among the finalists, a photograph of a hippo not too far from Kenya—in Mana Pools National Park, in Zimbabwe—has a good chance. “I wanted to catch fighting hippos, but they were all quite peaceful,” the Polish photographer Artur Stankiewicz told Forbes. “Then I got the idea to catch the portrait with water plants decorating the head, like the guy just got out of the hairdresser with a big smile on his face.” —Elena Clavarino
The winners of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2024 will be announced on December 10 at an awards night in London, which will be followed by an exhibition at gallery@oxo from December 10 to 16
Elena Clavarino is a Senior Editor at Air Mail
