An elephant carrying a dead calf. A dung beetle pushing its cargo. Two very different encounters lead the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.
Federico Veronesi takes the overall title with The Aftermath, photographed in Namibia. Oscar Whitfield wins the young title with Labour of Love. Both overall winners are in black and white.
The exhibition opens at London’s Natural History Museum on 16 October. These photographs reward a pause: the first records a confronting encounter with death; the second gives an often-overlooked animal the centre of the frame.
© Federico Veronesi and © Oscar Whitfield, courtesy Wildlife Photographer of the Year. @nhm_wpy #WPY62. Original embedded credits retained.
