The field of nature photography is disproportionately male, and far fewer women than men enter wildlife photo competitions. BigPicture is proud to be a women-led and jury chaired photography competition with gender-balanced judging panels. We’ve awarded and celebrated the work of over 40 women wildlife photographers since its inception in 2014. But collectively, we need to do more to address this broad and complex issue of gender imbalance in wildlife photography. We’re continuing to find ways BigPicture can make a bigger impact. If you have ideas for how we can help, email bigpicture@calacademy.org.
Judges: Led by jury chair Suzi Eszterhas since the competition’s inception in 2014, our judging panels have always featured incredibly talented women—and in the last 5 years we’ve ensured that at least 50% of the panels consisted of female judges.
Suzi Eszterhas (Chair)
Sandra Bartocha
Inka Cresswell
Daisy Gilardini
Melissa Groo
Morgan Heim
Esther Horvath
Cristina Mittermeier
Kathy Moran
Margot Raggett
Rathika Ramasamy
Tui De Roy
Sophie Stafford
Ami Vitale
Winners and Finalists: We’ve awarded 43 female winners and finalists, which includes 3 Grand Prize winners (out of 7). However, overall that makes up only 14% of total winners and finalists, which is not enough—we know we have more work to do here. Our new submission platform now provides more visibility into entrant demographics and we’re also seeing women are disproportionately represented in entries; we’ll be monitoring trends moving forward.
A Brave Conversation (Livestream Recording): Watch this unusually brave, straightforward conversation about the issues and challenges faced by women in the still male-dominated field of wildlife photography—as well as the unique skills and perspectives women bring to this work—via panelists Suzi Eszterhas (BigPicture jury chair and renowned wildlife photographer and founder of Girls Who Click), Susan McElhinney (National Wildlife Federation Photo Director), and Her Wild Vision's Jaymi Heimbuch and Morgan Heim (BigPicture judge).
