About

A professional portrait of Rachel Bigsby, taken in black and white. Rachel is featured with dark, wavy hair and light eyes taking a photo with her Nikon camera. She is smiling slightly and looking directly into the camera lens.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Winner of Natural Artistry

2023

Bird Photographer of the Year
Portfolio Winner

2023

Ocean Photographer of the Year
Fine Art Finalist

2026

Rachel Bigsby is a fine art wildlife photographer whose life and work have been shaped by a fascination with the sea and its birds. Entirely self-taught, she has followed that early curiosity from the chalk cliffs of Sussex to some of the world’s most remote marine wildernesses. Recognised by leading international photography competitions and the Winner of Natural Artistry in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, her work brings together natural artistry and conservation advocacy, guided by a genuine understanding of her subjects and a lifelong adoration of the natural world.

A Nikon Europe Creator and RSPB Ambassador, Rachel’s work has been published by National Geographic, with clients including the United Nations, WWF, Nikon, the National Trust and Falkland Islands Government. She has been invited to share her work at the Natural History Museum, Royal Geographical Society, UK Parliament and National Museum of Scotland, and regularly works across the polar regions as an AECO and IAATO-certified expedition guide.

Conservation is inseparable from Rachel’s photographic practice, and her longstanding commitment to the seabirds she photographs has seen her become recognised as one of Britain’s leading advocates for their protection. For more than a decade, she has worked voluntarily across numerous seabird colonies, alongside documenting some of the greatest threats they face, including the devastating impact of highly pathogenic avian influenza. She also initiated and led the campaign to end Scotland’s Guga Hunt, protecting a species at the heart of both her work and life.

A black and white portrait of Rachel Bigsby, standing on a grassy sand dune on Lord Howe Island, Australia, holding a Nikon camera, looking up at Sooty Terns flying in the muted sky over her.
A black and white portrait of Rachel Bigsby, standing on a grassy sand dune on Lord Howe Island, Australia, holding a Nikon camera, looking up at Sooty Terns flying in the muted sky over her.
A black and white photograph of Rachel Bigsby wearing a knitted headband and a winter jacket, looking to her right with snowy landscape of Arctic Svalbard in the background.
A black and white photograph of Rachel Bigsby with long wavy hair, smiling at a podium with a sign that reads "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" as she accepts her award for Natural Artistry in 2023.

Rachel began working towards a life with wildlife from an early age, inspired by her late grandfather, she spent more than a decade independently building the skills, field experience and reputation that would eventually become her career.

Her early years took her into wildlife filmmaking productions for BBC Earth and Sir David Attenborough’s Wild Isles, before making her mark in stills photography at 26 as the youngest Natural Artistry category winner in the history of WPY; a defining moment in a career built entirely from the ground up.

Client List

Nikon Europe

United Nations

National Geographic

Abercrombie & Kent

Falkland Island Government

Natural History Museum

RSPB

National Trust

EYOS Expeditions

Oceanographic Magazine

National Museums Scotland

Lord Howe Island Tourism Association

  • "Rachel’s uniquely creative approach to wildlife photography held us captive from the moment we were first introduced to it. Her technical mastery of exposure and focus empower some truly beautiful compositions, the likes of which are rarely seen from someone so early in their career. She also has an innate and powerful ability to convey the obvious passion she has for her work when she speaks. Beyond her articulate, relatable explanation of her creative process, it is her sensitivity and feeling for her subjects that comes through so clearly in her words. She is a joy to listen to, and an inspiration to many" ​

    — Nikon Europe

  • "Rachel takes remarkable photographs. In fact, if you were going to paint an image, you would paint it exactly as Rachel photographs it. Her work is very bold, it's very brave, it's very graphic and very striking. Rachel’s images are perfectly composed and she thinks about all the elements in her compositions like every pixel counts. That’s what I really like about her work"

    — Chris Packham CBE

  • "Rachel Bigsby was an absolute pleasure to work with. An incredible photographer, she created truly iconic imagery of the destination, capturing its essence with both artistry and authenticity. Her genuine passion for birdlife shone through in her storytelling, adding a distinctive and meaningful layer to the content. Rachel is a clear and proactive communicator, generous with her time and ideas, and deeply invested in delivering thoughtful outcomes. She has built a highly engaged and trusting audience, and we would work with her again in a heartbeat."

    — Lord Howe Island Tourism Association

  • "The Natural History Museum was delighted to host Rachel, one of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners, for an 'in-conversation' members event in our lecture theatre, and a photography workshop within our gardens where Rachel’s photographic insights enthralled our sell-out audience both on site and online! Working with Rachel was a real pleasure and one we will hope to repeat"

    — Natural History Museum, London

  • "Rachel’s style is unique and memorable, and she captures delicate moments of nature in a creative and artistic way. As a young, upcoming and female wildlife photographer we want to help Rachel grow, and in return all we ask is for Rachel to continue exploring her creativity with freedom, allowing us to use her imagery to help people fall in love with nature. That’s what her photography has the power to do"

    -RSPB

  • "From start to finish, Rachel was a delight to work with. She expresses her enthusiasm and expertise with warmth and passion, engaging our broad audiences with both the artistry of wildlife photography and the environmental issues it raises. Rachel was incredibly well received in our 200-seater auditorium, and the museum gathered significant feedback about Rachel's valuable contribution. Rachel was an absolute pleasure to work with and we'd love to do so again, recommending her as a speaker for public events without any reservation"

    -National Museums Scotland