Natural History Museum reveals Wildlife Photographer of the Year shortlist

The Natural History Museum in London has announced the shortlist for the 62nd Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. From a record-breaking 65,403 entries submitted by photographers in 121 countries, 100 images have been selected to move forward.

Notable shortlisted works include Audun Rikardsen’s ‘Icy Window,’ which captures a polar bear from a seal’s perspective through an ice breathing hole, and Jack Crockford’s ‘The Art of Flying,’ featuring a swift near a plane in London. Other highlighted images include Ernest Porter’s depiction of an oxpecker and a rhino in South Africa, and Vegard Byrkjeland Aasen’s photograph of an orca in a Norwegian fjord.

The competition winners will be announced on October 13, 2026. A full exhibition of the 100 shortlisted images is scheduled to open at the museum on October 16, 2026, and will run until July 11, 2027.