Where I live: Detroit Zoo hosts 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition

The Detroit Zoo again plays host the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, one of the most awe-inspiring displays of the beauty of nature as captured by some of the world's most talented photographers.

I've seen this show several times since our zoo began hosting it six years ago, and the stunning images never cease to be wow me. Displaying the photos as illuminated, large-format transparencies gives them an even more amazing depth and beauty. This format gives the images a larger-than-life and immediate quality that draws viewers into the stories of the subjects of each image.

The images themselves range from prosaic photographs of beautiful wildlife to more thought-provoking images like the truly troubling one I remember from last year's show by David Maitland that pictured an endangered black colobus monkey in Gabon thrown into a fire in preparation for its illegal sale as bushmeat.

Maitland's photo was the winner of the show's 2008 One Earth Award, a category highlighting environmental issues and the interaction between humans and nature. The 2009 One Earth Award winners may not be as shocking or disturbing, but each sparks serious thought about the interplay between man and nature. My favorite in this category for 2009 is Robert Friel's shot of a young penguin chick checking out the photographers' footprints in the sand.

The overall winner for this show is a nighttime capture of a wolf by Spanish photographer José Luis Rodríguez. While it is a beautiful image, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about shots requiring a great deal of set-up in terms of motion-triggered flashes and bait. (Meanwhile, there are questions about the award-winning photo, and contest officials expect to make a public announcement about their investigation into those questions soon.) 

The Junior division of this Wildlife Photographer of the Year show is always worthwhile, and pretty humbling to me. These images produced by photographers 17 years old and younger put my attempts at pretty wildlife photos to shame!

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year show, established over 40 years ago, drew 43,135 entries for the 2009 competition. This year’s exhibit consists of 95 winning images taken by 83 photographers from 24 countries.

The Detroit Zoo and the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, Canada, are the only two North American venues for this tour, which features numerous stops in Europe.

Do you love photography? Do you love wildlife? Are you concerned about the interaction of humans and their environment? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to see this show!

We always purchase the hardcover photo portfolio published for each year's show by BBC Books and never tire of browsing through the books to relive our enjoyment of the exhibitions. The books include each image in full color with the photographers’ notes about capturing the image and the photographic equipment used to take the images. If the zoo gift shop doesn’t have the book when you visit, you can order it online.

The exhibit runs at the Detroit Zoo's Ford Education Center now until April 26, 2010 and is free with regular admission to the zoo.

UPDATE: JANUARY 20, 2010

Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest officials announced the disqualification today of the wolf image taken by photographer José Luis Rodríguez and previously named as the overall winner of the competition.

Officials ruled that the image was likely of an animal model taken in a zoo. The photographer denies those accusations.

The photo will no longer appear in the exhibition or on the tour. We saw the touring exhibition at the Detroit Zoo this past Sunday and the photograph was still on display, so we knew there was no determination as of that date.

Judges pick the Wildlife Photographer of the Year in a blind process, where the identity of the photographers is unknown as the judges select winners. This means judges will not name an alternate photographer as 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

You can read more about the announcement at the Natural History Museum site and at the Amateur Photographer site. Amateur Photographer's Andy Rouse posts his thoughts about what this means for the competition, the photographer, and wildlife photography in the future. Amateur Photographer's Chris Chessman details the sanctions leveled to Rodríguez as a result of the disqualification.

Thanks to Tim Marks (a.k.a. @photowanderer) at The Wandering Photographer for keeping an eye on this story for me and forwarding the information about today's determination to me.

In any case, please do not let the controversy dissuade you from going to see this show. The images in this year's show are, as always, stunning and a great display of photographic talent. The images are beautiful, inspiring, and thought provoking. Don't miss it!

Note: "Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved

Comments

[gypsyscarlett]

That was very interesting, especially regarding the winning photo. I'm not sure how the other photographers can say whether it was tamed or not, if they weren't actually there. Wouldn't it be difficult to prove either way?

[Dominique King]

Gypsy-I'll be interested to see how the situation with the winning photo turns out.
I vaguely remember a small controversy last year over the winning photo as well--that time around the issue of whether captures achieved through the use of motion-tripped equipment were within the spirit of the show.

[Becks Davis]

Thanks Dominique, I'll check this out. Loved the photo of the penguin!

The wolf photo is amazing. The only thing I'll say, having recently lived in the UK, is that I wouldn't put trust in the Daily Mail (think tabloid).

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

[Dominique King]

Becks-Tim originally heard about the controversy on his photo boards. I felt I needed to mention it (it's the reporter in me, I guess). I saw just a few articles online mentioning it, and linked to the one I found that also included comments from the photographer so we could see something from both sides. It will be interesting to see if the complaints are simply the result of sour grapes, or if there is anything to them.

I thought the penguin was so cute :)