why this year’s shortlist of comedy wildlife photography awards confirms trend to humanize animals

the comedy wildlife photography awards has announced its finalist — including 44 images for 2020. with an emphasis on showcasing the beauty, fragility and funny side of nature, these remarkable pictures of wildlife depict a distinctive aesthetic that humanizes the subjects, a photographic style that advances from conventional, human portrait photography.

image by mark fitzpatrick

founded by paul joynson-hicks and tom sullam, the comedy wildlife photography awards is a global and free-to-enter competition for both professional photographers and passionate conservationists. in addition to providing some light-hearted relief, the competition aims to highlight the extremely important message of wildlife conservation in an engaging and positive way, working with the main competition partner — the born free foundation.

image by arturo telle thiemann

from a fox in heavy negotiations with a mouse, to a smiley fish and a photo-bombing giraffe, the shortlisted images create a feeling of participation in the viewer, of the subject actively engaging, to spark a connection and empathy with the viewer. the ultimate goal might be to highlight the similarity between humanity and nature, and reinforce respect for animals.

image by wei ping peng

besides showcasing the funny images, the comedy wildlife photography awards is also promoting ideas on how to be a conservationist at home. from shopping locally and responsibly to planting boxes on your windowsills for bees, the competition wants to encourage people who care about the environment to do something that helps.

image by petr sochman

image by daniele d’ermo

image by martin grace

image by sue hollis

image by jacques poulard

image by tim hearn damselfly

image by luis marti

image by asaf sereth

image by krisztina scheef

image by megan lorenz

project info:

name: comedy wildlife photography awards

status: finalists