Vote for your favourite: 25 images in the running to win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award 2022

From a pair of red foxes sharing an intimate nuzzle, to a polar bear cub basking in a sea of flowers, 25 incredible images have been shortlisted that spotlight important stories of nature from across the globe.

Photographs were chosen from 38,575 entries across 93 countries and include a portrait of a characterful pregnant pygmy seahorse by Nicholas More, and Michał Michlewicz’s story revealing the impact of domesticated cats on local wildlife.

For the first time, the public can vote for their favourite using interactive screens located inside the newly designed Wildlife Photographer of the Year flagship exhibition at the Natural History Museum. 

Voting ends on 2 February 2023. The top five images will be displayed online, joining the winners of the fifty-eighth competition announced earlier this year and chosen by an esteemed panel of judges. The winner will be showcased in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year voting screens at the Museum until the exhibition closes Sunday 2 July 2023.

Dr Douglas Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum says, ‘Voters will have a challenge to choose from this stunning range of photographs which tell vital stories and connect people to issues across the planet. We are looking forward to finding out which of these images emerges as the favourite.'

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum and offers a truly global platform for amateur and professional photographers alike. Using photography's unique emotive power to engage and inspire audiences, the exhibition shines a light on stories and species around the world and supports the Museum in its mission of creating advocates for the planet. 

The Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in London is supported by global green energy company Ørsted.

Vote online for the winner of the People’s Choice Award here: www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/peoples-choice

Press pack including images and captions can be found here. 

Notes to editors

Media contact

For access to high-resolution images or to arrange interviews with photographers, jury members, or Museum spokespeople, please contact Josephine Higgins at the Natural History Museum Press Office.

Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5106

Mobile: +44 (0) 7799 690151

Email: wildpress@nhm.ac.uk

Exhibition at Natural History Museum, London open until Sunday 2 July 2023.

• The exhibition is open Monday – Sunday, 10.00-17.50 (last admission at 16.30), and weekends sell out quickly. 
• Adult tickets from £17.00*, concession tickets £13.50*, and child £10.25* (*Prices excluding optional Gift Aid donation to the Museum.) Book your tickets: www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year 
• The exhibition was designed by a team led by RIBA Stirling Prize winning Witherford Watson Mann architects. We worked with graphic design studio Wolfe Hall, and Lightheory Studio, TM Lighting and Fine Art Lighting.
• The fifty-ninth Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is now open for entries and closes at 11.30am GMT on Thursday 8 December 2022.
• Entrants to the adult competition may enter up to 25 images for a £30 fee, which increases to £35 in the final week of the entry period from 11.30am GMT 1 December to 11.30am GMT 8 December. 
• An entry fee waiver has been introduced for photographers entering the adult competition who live in these 50 countries.
• Entrants aged 17 and under may enter up to 10 images for free.
• Find out how to enter: www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/competition 

About the Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is both a world-leading science research centre and the most-visited indoor attraction in the UK last year. With a vision of a future in which both people and the planet thrive, it is uniquely positioned to be a powerful champion for balancing humanity’s needs with those of the natural world.

It is custodian of one of the world’s most important scientific collections comprising over 80 million specimens accessed by researchers from all over the world both in person and via over 30 billion digital data downloads to date. The Museum’s 350 scientists are finding solutions to the planetary emergency from biodiversity loss through to the sustainable extraction of natural resources.

The Museum uses its global reach and influence to meet its mission to create advocates for the planet - to inform, inspire and empower everyone to make a difference for nature. We welcome millions of visitors through our doors each year, our website has had 17 million visits in the last year and our touring exhibitions have been seen by around 20 million people in the last 10 years.

South Kensington exhibition sponsor

About Ørsted

Ørsted have been Associate Sponsors of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum since 2014. The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, renewable hydrogen and green fuels facilities, and bioenergy plants. Moreover, Ørsted provides energy products to its customers. Ørsted is the only energy company in the world with a science-based net-zero emissions target as validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Ørsted ranks as the world’s most sustainable energy company in Corporate Knights' 2022 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world and is recognised on the CDP Climate Change a List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 6,836 people. Ørsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Ørsted). In 2021, the group's revenue was DKK 77.7 billion (EUR 10.4 billion) www.orsted.co.uk/en/About-us