The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2023

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has landed at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, with the mesmerising images of some of the Earth's most beautiful flora and fauna open to the public from Saturday, December 9-Sunday, April 28, 2024.

The stunning collection of pictures has been loaned to the Auckland Museum by the National History Museum in London — an institution that has been running the highly acclaimed competition since 1965.

It's a hotly contested field, with the latest round attracting 38,575 entries from 93 countries, whittled down to the final 100 that make up the exhibition. This year, the exhibition will be travelling all over the world and is expected to be viewed by more than one million people.

The winning photo was taken by French underwater photographer and marine biologist Laurent Ballesta, for his picture of a tri-spine horseshoe crab  — which is highly endangered — accompanied by a trio of golden trevallies, aptly named The Golden Horseshoe. This image was described as "hauntingly beautiful" by the Chair of the competition jury, Kathy Moran. Laurent is only the second photographer in the competition's fifty-nine-year history to be awarded the Grand Title award twice, also winning the honour in 2021.

The winning photograph by Laurent Ballesta

Entry to the exhibition is free for Auckland Museum members and children under 15. For non-members, tickets are priced at $9 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.

Images: Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.

Featured image: Atsuyuki Ohshima, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Top image: Shashwat Harish, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Second image: Laurent Ballesta, Winner of Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Third image: Max Waugh, Wildlife Photographer of the Year