Estonian photographer revealed as winner in the world’s most prestigious wildlife

23.10.2009 - 09:49 | Looduskalender

The winners of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition 2009 were unveiled last night (21 October) at a glittering award ceremony held at London’s Natural History Museum.

Urmas Tartes from Tähtvere vald is among the winners of the 46th annual competition, which attracted a record 43,135 entries from 94 countries and is widely considered the most prestigious of its type.

Urmas won the Animals in Their Environment category with his subtly powerful image, springtail on a snowflake. Photographs in this category must create a sense of place and convey a feeling of the relationship between an animal and where it lives.

Springtail on a snowflake © Urmas Tartes / Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009.

To the tiny insects that negotiate it every day, snow is an icy range of plunging chasms and jagged cliffs. Peering close, Urmas found springtails (also known as snow fleas) clambering over snowflakes near Vilbaste Springs in Estonia. When the temperature drops, many of these two-millimetre-long insects climb down through the frosty crevasses to the soil below. It’s a little bit warmer there, thanks to the insulating power of the snow. As it warms up again and the snow starts to thaw, the springtails climb back up to the surface, perhaps to feed on tiny particles of debris. This day, Urmas was lucky. It was warm enough for the springtails to be active but still cold enough for the snowflakes not to melt. Competition judge and editor of Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio 19, Rosamund Kidman Cox, said, ‘This is perhaps the most extraordinary picture in the competition. You focus for a second on the strange, tiny creature. Then the realisation dawns - the springtail is delicately balanced on a snowflake. It's a technical and artistic masterpiece.'

The competition is owned by London's Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine and is regarded as the international leader in the artistic representation of the natural world.

Exhibition information for visitors:

Venue:

Natural History Museum

Dates:

23 October, 2009 – 11 April, 2010

Opening times:

every day, 10.00–17.50 (closed 24–26 December)

Visitor enquiries:

020 7942 5000

Admission:

concession, Gift Aid admission £4.50*

family, Gift Aid admission £24* (up to two adults and three children) adult, Gift Aid admission £9*

free for Members, Patrons and children aged three and under

Nearest tube:

South Kensington

Website:

* If you are a UK taxpayer and pay the Gift Aid admission ticket price, the Natural History Museum can reclaim the tax on the whole ticket price you pay. For every £100 worth of tickets sold, we can claim an extra £28 from Government. This means you can further support the work of the Museum. The standard admission charges are adult £8, concession £4 and family £21.

The right of entry is the same for visitors with or without the voluntary donation.

Visitors can buy tickets at the Museum or online. Latest details of UK regional and international tour venues are available on the website.

www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto Veolia Environnement is a world leader in environment services. With more than 300,000

Veolia Environnement is the official company name with a French spelling. See http://www.veolia.co.uk

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The Underwater World category is supported by Project AWARE Foundation (International) – a non-profit organisation dedicated to conserving underwater environments with direct support from divers and water enthusiasts worldwide. www.projectaware.org

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ARKive is the world’s centralised digital library of films, photographs and fact-files of species urgently at risk of extinction – freely accessible to all online and preserved for future generations – with more than 38,000 images and film clips donated by the best wildlife film-makers and photographers in the business. www.arkive.org

The Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife is supported by Wildscreen’s ARKive initiative.

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Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is proud to support Wildscreen’s WildPhotos symposium, the UK’s largest two-day photography event dedicated to exploring the power of wildlife photography. The event brings together photographers, both professional and amateur, editors, publishers and conservationists. www.wildphotos.org.uk

For more information, high-resolution images or to arrange interviews, contact:

Marie Spanou, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Press Officer, the Natural History Museum

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