BigPicture is part of an empowered global community seeking to create awareness around and conservation of the natural world through the power of imagery. To that end, BigPicture has facilitated conversations—in person and online—around conservation photography. Working with media partners, we have augmented the impact of photographers’ work through international publications and creating our own books. See how you can get involved.
Committed to equalizing the gender imbalance in the field of nature photography, the annual BigPicture jury is typically composed of three women judges and three men judges, all experts in diverse areas of nature photography. And we are proud to say in our 12 years of BigPicture we’ve had six women Grand Prize winners.
Lemur's Tough Life
Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar
Donglin Zhou is a wildlife photographer and the co-founder of SKW Nature. Actively engaged in ecological conservation and the production of nature documentaries, Zhou has received many awards, including: 2023 BigPicture Terrestrial Wildlife Category Winner, China National Geographic Wildlife Photography Contest’s Best Nature Photographer of the Year 2024, and the Highly Commended Award in the 59th Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) competition hosted by the BBC. Her works have been displayed at the Natural History Museum in London, the California Academy of Sciences, the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, and the Wildlife Conservation Summit in Singapore.
bee Balling
| texas, united states
Raised in Saudi Arabia, award-winning photojournalist Karine has traveled extensively to places like Taiwan, Africa, and the Galapagos in the pursuit of photography while also serving as the Senior Picture Editor for National Geographic for nine years. Now, Karine’s an associate fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers and a member of Girls Who Click.
Camouflage
| Etosha National Park, Namibia
Lavigne loves photographing places “where you can imagine how the world must have been before there were people.” For this winning image, she spent three weeks in Namibia looking for scenes where plants and animals blend into their natural environs. Her series, “Land of Nothingness,” was exhibited at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York.
Confiscated
| Denver, Co
German wildlife photographer Jaschinski has been devoted to documenting the fractured existence of wildlife in captivity for over a decade. Her passion to protect animals takes her across the globe to reveal otherwise untold stories about animal suffering. Jaschinski has received many international awards and lectures across Europe on photography and animal conservation issues.
Harmony
| North Carolina, United States
Houppermans left the corporate world in 2015 to pursue underwater photography and marine conservation full time. She enjoys leading expeditions for divers and photographers, particularly those involving her beloved sharks. She has been a member of the Ocean Artists Society since 2016 for her efforts in furthering marine conservation through photography.
Hope In A Burned Plantation
| Mallacoota, Australia
Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photojournalist and the founder of We Animals Media. For almost two decades, she has documented the plight of animals on all seven continents and shared their stories worldwide. She has authored three books and was the subject of a documentary, The Ghosts in Our Machine.
Livestream and in-person events facilitated alongside our esteemed judges, winners and finalists, and community members.
2025 judges Sophie Stafford & Fernando Faciole discuss everything from how to find the perfect Photo Story subject to what makes a winning image.
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Maddy Rifka, 2024 BigPicture Human/Nature winner, and Royale Williams (Karuk, Quartz Valley Indian Reservation), an Indigenous Fire Practitioner, discuss the importance of cultural burning and its authentic storytelling.
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Neuroscientist, writer and stage director Indre Viskontas and 2024 Grand Prize Winner Corey Arnold’s Dome Show talk facilitated at the BigPicture 2024 Exhibition opening event.
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Indre Viskontas in conversation with 2022 BigPicture Grand Prize winner, Jo-Anne McArthur, and BigPicture co-founder, Rhonda Rubinstein. They discuss BigPicture’s latest publication, Seeing It All, and the power of images to change how we see the world, raise awareness about the most urgent environmental issues, and spark action.
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Grand Prize Winners Karine Aigner and Jo-Anne McArthur discuss what makes a winning photo.
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Jury chair Suzi Eszterhas and Jaymi Heimbach discuss the importance of women in Wildlife Photography.
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An unusually brave, straightforward conversation about the issues and challenges faced by women in the still male-dominated field of wildlife photography via panelists Suzi Eszterhas, Susan McElhinney, and Her Wild Vision's Jaymi Heimbuch and Morgan Heim.
WatchBring some of the most incredible images of BigPicture home!
A 2024 Indie Book Award Finalist, BigPicture's publication of photography and essays is an inspiring collection featuring a foreword by Sylvia Earle and highlights the work of 11 remarkable female photographers—all award recipients and/or jurors of BigPicture. Boasting over 125 dramatic images, this book illustrates the extraordinary complexity of the natural world and challenges our very relations and perceptions of it.
Buy now
From a heart-pounding shot of the Wildebeest Migration to a glimpse of the elusive Pampas cat, each image tells a story about the diversity and grandeur of life on earth. Bold, surprising, and jaw-droppingly beautiful, Wonders features a staggering 100 images by BigPicture competition winners and finalists.
Buy nowVideos, podcasts, and articles we recommend for burgeoning and established photographers alike.
Jill Greenberg, TED x Wabash College
8:57
Shem Compion, C4 Photo Safaris
4:17
Episode
The Wildlife Photography Podcast
1:07:10
Episode
The Photo Ethics Podcast
42:01
Podcast
by The Photography Ethics Centre
Girls Who Click
Discover Wildlife
The Conversation
The Guardian
Girls Who Click
North American Nature Photography Association
North American Nature Photography Association
International League of Conservation Photographers
National Geographic
National Geographic
Here are a few organizations we love and partner with to make the photography community a better, more equitable place.
Founded by award-winning wildlife photographer and BigPicture co-founder Suzi Eszterhas, Girls Who Click partners with professional photographers across the U.S. to provide free, hands-on and virtual nature photography workshops for teen girls.
Founded by BigPicture jurors Morgan Heim and Jaymi Heimbach, Her Wild Vision is a searchable directory of women-identifying photographers & filmmakers working in conservation.
A merit-based database that provides art buyers, creative directors, and photo directors an opportunity to find and connect with the most talented and highly skilled photographers, editors, and visual producers working today from groups that have historically been underrepresented in the global visual media landscape.
A global community, directory, and support hub with over 2,100 Black and African creatives across more than 60 countries and 35 U.S. states, BWP began with a Black Women Photographers COVID-19 Relief Fund to support Black photographers facing financial hardship during the pandemic and has since grown into the largest provider of grants, resources, and gear for Black and African women creatives.
A non-profit that launched to elevate the voices of women and nonbinary visual journalists, Women Photograph is a private database that includes more than 1,400 independent documentary photographers based in 100+ countries and is available privately to any commissioning editor or organization.
