The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is launching a call for entries for the best wildlife photography across the African continent. The initiative is part of the 2022 Benjamin Mkapa Wildlife Award. Nominations close on June 1, 2022.
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), in partnership with Nature’s Best Photography (NBP) magazine, is calling for entries to win awards for wildlife photography in Africa. The initiative is part of the second edition of the Benjamin Mkapa Wildlife Award in Africa.
The competition, won in 2021 by young South African Zander Galli, aims to raise the profile of African wildlife through its 13 categories including African Conservation Heroes, Coexistence and Conflict, Endangered African Wildlife, Fragile Wildlife, African Wildlife Behaviour, African Wildlife Portraits, African Wildlife Gardens, Wilderness Art, Creative Digital, Mobile, Africa in Motion/Video, and two Young Photographers of the Year.
“Bringing Africa to the world and the world to Africa is the vision that defines this global competition, focused on developing new multimedia platforms that engage and involve Africans and those who travel to Africa in a blended narrative of conservation and visual storytelling,” says Craig Sholley, AWF senior vice president and co-founder of the 60-year-old program.
The jury of global wildlife advocates will award the winners a total of $30,000. The current winner will also receive handcrafted stone elephant sculptures and an interview in the special edition of Nature’s Best Photography magazine. In addition, all winning images and videos will be exhibited at the National Museum in Nairobi, Kenya and other locations in Africa and the United States of America.
The award organizers say the competition is open to photographers of all ages and levels of photographic experience from Africa and around the world. The results of this second edition will be known at the opening of the exhibition on October 27, 2022 at the National Museum in Nairobi, Kenya. In the meantime, applicants have until June 1, 2022 to enter their wildlife masterpieces.
Wildlife photography for conservation
The containment due to the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 has favoured the practice of poaching in Africa, especially rhinos and elephants. It is therefore in this context of vulnerability of African wildlife that the campaign “Prints for wildlife” was born at the initiative of two wildlife photographers, the Dutch Pie Aerts and the Austrian Marion Payr. At least 70 internationally renowned wildlife photographers sold their work in an online store at an affordable price and the proceeds were donated to the South African conservation association African Parks, for the benefit of wildlife. For the record, African Parks manages 18 national parks in 11 African countries.
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It is in this context that the Benjamin Mkapa Award, named after the former Tanzanian president who is committed to biodiversity in general and conservation in particular, was also established. The dual mission of this initiative is for AWF to ensure the prosperity of wildlife and wild lands, and for Nature’s Best Photography, to show the beauty and diversity of African wildlife.
For more information on the competition, click here
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
