Digital Editor, Museums

Wildlife photography is a gripping blend of science and art. The science lesson comes from the subjects: Each image is a study of the natural world and all that can be learned from it. The art is in the otherworldly magic within the pictures—the majesty of a wolf’s face, the grace of swans on a lake, the bold colors of red-and-green macaws, the pose of a porcupine, the embrace of a tiger.

All of these breathtaking visuals and many more are featured in a new release from Smithsonian Books, 60 Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year: How Wildlife Photography Became Art, by author and editor Rosamund Kidman Cox. In its pages are stunning looks at nature from the six decades of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the prestigious annual international photography competition hosted by the Natural History Museum in London. The contest invites both professional and amateur photographers from all over the world to submit entries and culminates in an exhibition at the museum displaying some of the most powerful photos as chosen by an international jury. The recently announced top prize winner of this year's competition is an awe-inspiring image of a lake teeming with western toad tadpoles.

Preview thumbnail for '60 Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year: How Wildlife Photography Became Art

60 Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year: How Wildlife Photography Became Art

Celebrating some of the most memorable and beautiful wildlife photographs from the past 60 years

The more than 200 images in the book display the splendor of nature. But in addition to the spectacle and beauty, some of the selections show the atrocities that animals and their environments can face from humans, such as a turtle stuck in a discarded net and a slaughtered black rhino with its horns sawed off.

From oceans to mountains, and woods to wetlands, the book serves as an ode to the animals and landscapes of planet Earth.

Testing the depth
An Arctic fox gently tests the water's depth in Greenland. © Jean-Louis Klein and Marie-Luce Hubert, 1994
First encounter
In Kenya's Maasai Mara reserve, a male lion meets a new cub for the first time. © Anup Shah, 1999
Pool chaffinch
A chaffinch is reflected in the still water of a pond in Hungary. The old boot had been left there by the photographer to add visual interest to the landscape. © Bence Máté, 2002
The embrace
An Amur tigress grasps the trunk of a tree in Russia's Land of the Leopard National Park. © Sergey Gorshkov, 2020
The pose
A young male proboscis monkey is captured in a seemingly meditative moment in Malaysian Borneo. © Mogens Trolle, 2020
Universe of eggs
A remote pool in northern Hungary contains freshly laid frog egg masses that are illuminated by the blue dusk. © Imre Potyó, 2021
Head to head
Svalbard reindeer fight in the snow. © Stefano Unterthiner, 2021
Heavenly flamingos
A flock of flamingos align against a backdrop of clouds in Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni. © Junji Takasago, 2022
The big buzz
A ball of buzzing cactus bees join in a scrum on a Texas ranch. © Karine Aigner, 2022
Pool of wonder
A freshwater pool on a forest floor in the Appalachian Mountains holds a clutch of spotted salamander eggs. © Steven David Johnson, 2023

Get the latest on what's happening At the Smithsonian in your inbox.

A Note to our Readers
Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission.

Kayla Randall is Smithsonian magazine's digital editor, museums.