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.”
