Competition 2025

Roz is an editor, photo editor and writer specialising in wildlife and the environment. Past roles include editor of BBC Wildlife magazine for 24 years and project manager for BBC Books. She has had a 45-year involvement with Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and is author of photography-led books including How Wildlife Photography Became Art and the Masters of Nature Photography series for the Natural History Museum. Roz is an affiliate of the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Serena Dzenis is an Australian lens-based artist based in Iceland, celebrated for her compelling imagery that merges natural landscapes with human architecture. Her work delves into the intricate relationship between humanity and the environment, offering thought-provoking perspectives on our place within the natural world. Serena’s photography has reached audiences worldwide, with exhibitions at the Lancashire Photography Festival (UK), Head On Photo Festival (Australia), and galleries in countries including Hungary, France, Japan, China, Spain, Germany, Canada, and Lithuania. Her achievements include 1st place in the professional architecture category at the 2022 Tokyo International Foto Awards, being named ND Architectural Photographer of the Year 2022, and earning 1st place in the same category at the 2022 International Photography Awards and the 8th Fine Art Photography Awards. Through her evocative and thought-provoking photography, Serena seeks to inspire a profound connection with nature while fostering critical reflection on humanity’s impact on the environment.

Aaron Gekoski is an internationally-acclaimed photojournalist and film-maker, specialising in human-animal conflict. For more than 15 years he has travelled the globe to report on our complex relationship with wildlife. Covering issues from the illegal wildlife and pet trade, to deforestation, marine conservation and wildlife tourism, his images have appeared in dozens of international publications and books. His work has also featured in most of the top photographic competitions. He was recently awarded the 2024 Environmental Photographer of the Year award by Prince Albert II of Monaco. Aaron has produced or featured in over 100 short- and long-form documentaries. His films have been acquired by Al Jazeera, Smithsonian, Apple TV, Sky, Amazon, and National Geographic. He also fronted several online series for ScubazooTV. He has just finished work on a feature film about mankind's relationship with big cats (co-produced by Terra Mater). Dethroned will premiere this summer.

Agorastos Papatsanis is a nature photographer specializing in mushroom photography. Born in 1977 in a small village in the Grevena region surrounded by various forests in northern Greece, he is living in Pieria today, nestled in the embrace of the mythical Mt. Olympus, where he works as a photographer. He recorded and identified mushrooms until 2008 when he began photographing them with an artistic approach.  He has won numerous awards in some of the world’s biggest competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2013, 2016, and as a winner for two consecutive years, 2022 and 2023.  Agorastos has contributed to many magazines with numerous articles. A significant highlight of his photographic career was the selection of his photo by National Geographic Magazine (America) for the cover of the April 2024 issue. This marked the first mushroom-themed cover in the magazine’s 136-year history, featuring a rich 10-page article on mushrooms adorned with his photos.

Bruno D'Amicis (1979) was born in Rome, but chose to live under the shadow of the Apennines mountains, where he takes off for his many projects abroad. After graduating in Biological Sciences, he embarked on a career as a nature photographer. His images have been awarded (World Press Photo, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, European Nature Photographer of the Year, etc.) and published (National Geographic, GEO, Smithsonian, etc.) all over the World. Beside countless publications, he has authored nine books, three documentaries, countless exhibitions and created several popularisation and conservation projects, including L'Altro Versante, on the mountains of Italy, and L'Orso e la Formica, on the endangered Apennine brown bear. His last project, The Wild Line, is a collective initiative to document and celebrate the last nature wonders of the Mediterranean.

Jen Guyton is a German/American ecologist and multi-award winning photographer currently living in Charleston, South Carolina. She gained her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University before turning her focus to photography. She has a passion for telling stories at the junction of global environmental change and human culture. Jen is a contributor to National Geographic magazine, a National Geographic Explorer and a fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers. She has spent a large part of her career in Africa, using her camera to tell inspiring stories with a particular focus on Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.

Peter Cairns is the founder and Head of Rewilding at Scottish rewilding charity, SCOTLAND: The Big Picture. He’s spent his 30 year career documenting stories from nature close to his home in the Cairngorms National Park and across the world. He is a Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a keynote speaker, multi-award winning photographer, author of several books and ran a successful wildlife photography tour guiding business for many years. As a co-founder of conservation communication projects, Wild Wonders of Europe and 2020VISION, he has helped shape the narratives that inspire people to reconnect with nature.