Wildlife Photographer of the Year arrives in Birmingham

Wildlife Photographer of the Year has arrived in Birmingham and is open from Saturday 17 October 2020 to Sunday 7 February 2021 at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG), with the chance to see the newly crowned winning competition image.

The world-renowned exhibition, on loan from the National History Museum in London, can be seen in the spectacular Gas Hall at BMAG (Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 5pm), showcasing award-winning images which explore some of the natural world’s most astonishing and thought-provoking sights.

The winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition were revealed during an online awards ceremony live-streamed from the Natural History Museum, London on 13 October.

Visitors to the exhibition will have the chance to see this year’s Grand Title winner, The Embrace by Sergey Gorshkov, which was announced by the Duchess of Cambridge. The image captures a Siberian tiger scent-marking a fir tree in a remote forest of Russia, which is a rarely photographed behaviour.

The top prize for Young Photographer of the Year was awarded to Liina Heikkinen for her dramatic picture of a young red fox (Vulpes vulpes) fiercely defending the remains of a barnacle goose from its five rival siblings in the wild of Finland.

Tickets are £7.50 for adults and £3.00 for children and students, with under 3s going free. This is the only chance to see Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the Midlands in 2020. Tickets must be pre-booked at www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/whats-on/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year.

Tickets include entry to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and a chance to explore the level 2 picture galleries and visit the Edwardian Tearooms which will be offering special themed drinks to complete the wildlife experience. Try the Go Bananas milkshake for a fruity treat and adults can enjoy the Peacher Perfect cocktail, a refreshing serve created exclusively for Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery by The Pineapple Club’s cocktail masters.

Running for over 55 years, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, and now receives over 49,000 entries from across the world. The images featured in the exhibition encourage a future of advocating for the planet, through shining a light on various species and the conditions they need for survival.

Gurminder Kenth, Museum Manager at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, said: “It’s a very exciting time at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery as we recently welcomed visitors back through the doors and now Wildlife Photographer of the Year is here!

“This exhibition is the perfect way to escape and immerse yourself in the breath-taking diversity of the natural world. You’ll explore some of the world’s richest habitats, see fascinating animal behaviour and get to know some extraordinary species. With limited capacity slots this is the ideal way to enjoy one of the Natural History Museum’s most popular exhibitions here in Birmingham.”

Find out more about the Birmingham exhibition at www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/whats-on/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year, including safety information which visitors are encouraged to familiarise themselves with before arrival.