Rachel Bigsby Makes History at Wildlife Photographer of the Year
At just 26, self-taught wildlife photographer Rachel Bigsby becomes the youngest-ever winner of the Natural Artistry category in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, with a fine-art portrait of courting Northern Gannets.
Wildlife photographer Rachel Bigsby has been named the Winner of the Natural Artistry category in the 59th Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.
At just 26 years old, Rachel became the youngest photographer in the category's history to receive the distinction. Her winning photograph, The Art of Courtship, was selected in a competition that attracted 49,957 entries from 95 countries, marking a significant achievement for a photographer whose career had been built entirely through independent study, determination and more than a decade of experience in the field.
The award represents the realisation of an ambition that began in childhood. Entirely self-taught, Rachel first developed her fascination with wildlife photography as a young teenager, gradually building the technical skills, fieldcraft and distinctive artistic vision that would establish her professional career. Her journey, undertaken without formal photographic training, reflects years of dedication to the natural world and an unwavering belief in the expressive possibilities of wildlife photography.
“I was once a young girl with a camera and an enormous dream, teaching myself everything I could about the natural world and how to photograph it. To have that journey recognised by Wildlife Photographer of the Year is something I could never have imagined. But what makes it especially meaningful is that the photograph celebrates the Northern Gannets, the birds that have given me so much and shaped the life I lead today.”
Rachel Bigsby accepts her award at the Natural History Museum, London.
‘The Art of Courtship’
Captured beneath the towering sandstone cliffs of Noss National Nature Reserve in Shetland, The Art of Courtship portrays two Northern Gannets engaged in an intimate courtship display, their elegant forms framed by the sweeping, guano-marked curves of the surrounding rock. Photographed from a small boat in the North Sea, the image required careful observation, precise timing and an instinctive understanding of composition. Among thousands of nesting Gannets, Rachel recognised a fleeting alignment between the birds and their environment, transforming an intimate moment of natural behaviour into a striking monochromatic study of shape, movement and connection. The photograph exemplifies Rachel's distinctive approach to natural artistry: moving beyond conventional wildlife portraiture to explore the relationship between subject, landscape and emotion. Rather than isolating the birds from their surroundings, she allowed the sculptural qualities of the cliffs to become an integral part of the composition.
The international jury praised the photograph's exceptional visual harmony, recognising the interplay between the birds' courtship posture and the flowing patterns of the sandstone.
Kathy Moran, Editor and Chair of the Jury, described the composition:
“The jury loved the interplay between the striations on the rocks and the shape of the birds. It works beautifully in black and white.”
Rachel received her award at the Natural History Museum in London, where The Art of Courtship formed part of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The photograph was also selected for the competition's accompanying publication and international touring exhibition, bringing her work to audiences around the world.
The achievement attracted coverage from national broadcasters, including ITV News and BBC South East, while the Natural History Museum subsequently selected the photograph for a range of official Wildlife Photographer of the Year merchandise.
For Rachel, the recognition carried particular significance. Northern Gannets have remained central to her photographic practice and conservation work, inspiring years of field observation, artistic exploration and advocacy for the protection of Britain's internationally important seabird colonies.
The winning photograph celebrates a species whose elegance and extraordinary natural history have profoundly shaped her career, while reflecting a wider ambition to encourage audiences to see seabirds as more than distant inhabitants of the ocean. Beyond the award itself, the achievement stands as a defining moment in a self-made career, demonstrating the possibilities of an unconventional path into professional wildlife photography and the importance of developing an individual artistic identity. Through her continued work as a photographer, conservation advocate and educator, Rachel hopes to inspire others to pursue their own creative ambitions, while using the international recognition of her imagery to foster a deeper appreciation of the natural world.