Something worth looking at
by Nick Jones
The natural sciences and natural history in particular, has often enraptured people with the sheer beauty of wildlife and the environment. And many artists have used nature as inspiration, drawn by an animal or plant's beauty and trying to capture some aspect of it. Natural scientists, from the 'father of taxonomy' Linnaeus, Darwin and Maria Merian, through to present day illustrators, BBC photographers and filmakers have in drawing and photographing nature for study and classification often produced visually appealing representations. A form of art.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum and BBC wildlife offer a choice selection of many of the world’s best attempts at capturing the visual splendour of nature. Using a variety of shots, created with different lenses and shutter speeds, photographers from around the world capture an amazing array of species and landscapes; mimetic of the diversity of life. There are several categories in the competition including: 'animal behaviour', 'nature in black and white' and 'the underwater world'. Use of digital editing is restricted by the competition rules, yet the portrayed scenes and their composition present images that offer more than just nature – frozen in place; the pictures seem more carefully crafted, more vivid than you might believe. These are photographs that manage to extract and portray the art inherent in nature. Where perhaps the photographers are acting less the artist and more the showman; their skill and luck combining to reveal nature's arrangement of elements.
However you choose to view it, the gallery is well worth a look, and as the Christmas vacation draws near those visiting London may want to visit the Natural History museum to see the gallery of the 2009 winners in their full glory. Or you could have a look at the online gallery at the official site:
- http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/index.jsp
by Nick Jones
The natural sciences and natural history in particular, has often enraptured people with the sheer beauty of wildlife and the environment. And many artists have used nature as inspiration, drawn by an animal or plant's beauty and trying to capture some aspect of it. Natural scientists, from the 'father of taxonomy' Linnaeus, Darwin and Maria Merian, through to present day illustrators, BBC photographers and filmakers have in drawing and photographing nature for study and classification often produced visually appealing representations. A form of art.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum and BBC wildlife offer a choice selection of many of the world’s best attempts at capturing the visual splendour of nature. Using a variety of shots, created with different lenses and shutter speeds, photographers from around the world capture an amazing array of species and landscapes; mimetic of the diversity of life. There are several categories in the competition including: 'animal behaviour', 'nature in black and white' and 'the underwater world'. Use of digital editing is restricted by the competition rules, yet the portrayed scenes and their composition present images that offer more than just nature – frozen in place; the pictures seem more carefully crafted, more vivid than you might believe. These are photographs that manage to extract and portray the art inherent in nature. Where perhaps the photographers are acting less the artist and more the showman; their skill and luck combining to reveal nature's arrangement of elements.
However you choose to view it, the gallery is well worth a look, and as the Christmas vacation draws near those visiting London may want to visit the Natural History museum to see the gallery of the 2009 winners in their full glory. Or you could have a look at the online gallery at the official site:
- http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/index.jsp