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Photo Essay

Online photography exhibition: Wild

Wild can encompass wildlife, wild times and wild locations around the planet.

The theme of this online photography exhibition is Wild. That can encompass wildlife, wild times and wild locations around the planet. Members of the British Guild of Travel Writers were free to interpret the theme however they wanted.

Zebras in Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe
Zebras in Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe.

Photographic images and film footage of some of our planet’s animal and plant species may be all that’s left to show they existed soon. Of late, there has been a lot of discussion regarding the impact of climate change and the world’s human population on flora and fauna.

There’s talk of a climate emergency and calls have been made to take urgent action. Yet some people continue to question whether global warming is genuine.

The recent impact of people on the planet is, however, beyond doubt. The World Bank calculated that 1.3 million square kilometres offorest was cleared by humans between 1990 and 2016. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that, on average, forest equivalent in size to 27 football fields is lost every minute because of human action.

The environmental impact of travel is also becoming a subject of discussion. If you have constructive ideas and suggestions, why not contact the British Guild of Travel Writers?

In the meantime, take a look at the images submitted by members relating to the theme of our latest online photography exhibition: Wild.

Dave Saunders likes portray the natural lives of people plus the world’s flora and fauna. His photos have been published in publications including The Times, The Daily Telegraph and Octane magazine. For this exhibition he has submitted an image of a member of the Royal Marines undergoing winter training in Norway.

Winter training in Norway
Winter training in Norway by Dave Saunders.

Ferne Arfin shows the wild passion of flamenco dancers Simbad and Belen Lopez performing at Corral de la Morreria in Madrid. Ferne’s photos have been published in the Los Angeles Times, by Fodors and on The View from Chelsea.

Flamenco by Ferne Arfin.
Flamenco by Ferne Arfin.

Julia Hammond photographed a red squirrel at Ala Archa National Park, Kyrgyzstan.

Red squirrel by Julia Hammond.
Red squirrel by Julia Hammond.

Valery Collins photographed both the wild sea and wildflowers on the coastal path that snakes between Lizard Point and Kynance Cove in Cornwall.

Wild flowers by Valery Collins.
Wild flowers by Valery Collins.

Allan Rogers photographed a basking lizard on the Greek Island of Zakynthos. Allan is the editor of The Worldrover Travel Magazine.

Lizard by Allan Rogers.
Lizard by Allan Rogers.

Tim Bird photographed the Indian festival of spring and colours, Holi, being celebrated with special zest and abandon in the town of Barsana in Uttar Pradesh. Tim’s images have featured in Blue Wings and the Finnish edition of GEO magazine.

Holi celebrations by Tim Bird.
Holi celebrations by Tim Bird.

Kirsten Henton went to Eysturoy, on the Faroe Islands, and photographed a house with a view of the wild looking landscape. Kirsten is the editor of Weather2Travel.

Remote house by Kirsten Henton.
Remote house on the Faroe Islands by Kirsten Henton.

Shafik Meghji travelled to St Andrews Bay on South Georgia to photograph king penguins. The colony there has 400,000 members. His images have been published by BBC Travel, Rough Guides and Adventure.com.

Penguins by Shafik Meghji.

Juliet Rix photographed a juvenile albatross at Prion Island in the Bay of Isles off South Georgia. Juliet’s most recent trip is taking her to Wrangel Island in Russia.

Albatross by Juliet Rix.

John Malathronas tracked a leopard in the Okanango Delta as light fell. The vegetation and low light made it ever more difficult to view the creature. John writes for the likes of National Geographic Traveller and CNN Travel.

Leopard by John Malathronas.

Richard Villar, the author of Knife Edge: Life as a Special Forces Surgeon, photographed at Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, at an elevation of 3,565 metres above sea level. Richard specialises in the outdoors and nature.

Cactii by Richard Villars.
Cacti by Richard Villar.

Kathryn Burrington photographed a large male grizzly bear in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest. Her images have featured in Lonely Planet and on her blog Travel with Kat.

Grizzly bear by Kathryn Burrington.

Geoff Moore photographed giant waves sweeping onto the Cornish coast at the National Trust’s Mullion Harbour. He is an experienced travel photographer and videographer.

Waves by Geoff Moore.
Waves by Geoff Moore.

Petra Shepherd spotted a silverback gorilla in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest of Uganda. Petra was three hours into a challenging trek when she photographed the primate basking in the sunshine. Her work has been published by Active Traveller.

Silverback gorilla by Petra Shepherd.
Silverback gorilla by Petra Shepherd.

Solange Hando observed giraffes in Namibia’s Etosha National Park at sunset. Solange’s images have been published in Living France and the Tashi Delek in-flight magazine.

Giraffes by Solange Hando.
Giraffes by Solange Hando.

Jeremy Hoare is a specialist in Japan and recently published a limited-edition book, Geisha Dreams. He saw a three-toed sloth while at Cabañas Casa Verde in Costa Rica.

Sloth by Jeremy Hoare.
Three-toed sloth by Jeremy Hoare.

Frances Howorth specialises in all things to do with water and photographed an abandoned Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost in Johnson Bay on Devon Island in the wilds of Nunavut, Canada.

RCMP outpost by Frances Howorth.
Abandoned RCMP outpost by Frances Howorth.

Diana Jarvis photographed a zebra in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia while researching about sustainable tourism and safari photography. Her work has been published by Rough Guides and National Geographic Traveller

Zebra by Diana Jarvis.

Peter Ellegard photographed a leopard in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Park. “It had been resting and turned to look directly at me just before it stood up and slinked majestically away into the bush; a spellbinding sight,” says Peter, whose travel-related work encompasses golf.

Leopard by Peter Ellegard.
Leopard by Peter Ellegard.

Duncan J.D. Smith also captured a big cat in the Maasai Mara National Park. His was a lion at rest. His photos illustrate all 12 of the Only in Guides to cities such as London, Edinburgh and Boston.

Lion by Duncan JD Smith.
Lion by Duncan JD Smith.

David Lindo photographed a planalto hermit, a species of hummingbird, in the Mata Atlanticá Forest of Brazil. His images have been published in Bird Watching Magazine and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Hummingbird by David Lindo.

Rudolf Abraham photographed the Northern Lights above the mountains surrounding Reinefjord on Norway’s Lofoten Islands. His photos have been published in Outdoor Enthusiast and France Magazine.

Northern Lights by Rudolf Abraham.

Bill Birkett photographed beneath the Pillars of Paine in the Torres Del Paine National Park in the Chile. Bill’s book Complete Lakeland Fells gave rise to his listing of fell tops over 1,000ft in altitude being known as The Birkett’s.

Patagonia by Bill Birkett.
The Pillars of Paine by Bill Birkett.

Stuart Forster, the curator of this online photography exhibition, photographed baboons grooming on a termite mound in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls National Park. An experienced wildlife photographer, he has had photos published in National Geographic Traveller, Wanderlust. On his blog, Go Eat Do, you can find a number of wildlife features, including a post about walking in Zimbabwe’s Matobo National Park to view rhinoceroses.

Baboons by Stuart Forster.
Baboons by Stuart Forster.

The theme of the Guild’s first online exhibition was Departures.

Look out for the next British Guild of Travel Writers online photography exhibition in the autumn.

Stuart Forster
By: Stuart Forster Features writer, editor, travel blogger and photographer.