Recently the winners of the Green Camera 2024 were announced at Museon-Omniversum. Over five thousand photos were submitted for this prestigious award for nature photographers from the Netherlands and Belgium. Seventy award-winning photos and honourable mentions will be on display at the exhibition in the Hague museum for a year.
Below are the winners Nature Photo of the Year, Nature Photographer of the Year and Nature Talent of the Year.
Sophie Mijnhout is the winner in the category ‘Arthropods and Invertebrates’ and Nature Photo of the Year.
The jury: “The sad fate of an aphid in a spider’s web is captured here in a beautiful image. The colours burst from the photo and the phenomenal sharpness even shows the tiny droplets of glue on the lines of the spider webs that have proved fatal to the aphid. Partly because of the pitch-black background, this photo gives an almost museum-like appearance, but also very nicely shows all the natural aspects, the thin cobwebs, the many hues in the aphid’s wings and the burgundy facet eyes.”
Paulien Bunskoek may call herself Nature Photographer of the Year.
She wins this award for her series Farewell butterflies, which tells a story about the decline of Dutch diurnal butterflies.
The jury: “The Netherlands has not been doing well with butterflies for years. This portfolio shows a selection of beautiful butterflies that share a common story, they are rapidly declining in numbers or are already no longer to be found in the Netherlands. The striking white backgrounds give a spring-like and cheerful atmosphere while the message is less cheerful. Let us hope this portfolio is an ode and not an in memoriam.”
Thyrza Boskma was chosen as Nature Talent of the Year with her photo of a night peacock.
The jury: “The night peacock is a beautiful moth. The eyes on its wings are meant to scare off predators. The photographer managed to capture the butterfly on a rather threatening, grey day. This makes the colours of the grey-eyed butterfly, the sky and the surroundings match well and together form a cohesive image of this beautiful animal.”
The Green Camera
Nature photography plays an important role in reinforcing the notion that our nature is beautiful and special, which we should treat with respect. This thought is the motivation of initiators Jan Vermeer and Daan Schoonhoven in creating the nature photography award the Green Camera. The Green Camera distinguishes itself by only accepting photos taken in the Netherlands or Belgium. Schoonhoven says: “This is how we bring our nature into the limelight and show its diversity and beauty. It also creates a level playing field for participating photographers. A Dutch forest landscape or a coot does not have to compete with spectacular landscapes or animal species from faraway places.”
The Green Camera has three components:
Green Camera Nature Photographer of the Year: the award for the best series.
Green Camera Nature Photo of the Year with awards in seven categories: Landscapes, Black and white, Arthropods and invertebrates, Plants and mushrooms, Birds, Mammals, Reptiles and amphibians, Abstract.
Green Camera Nature Talent of the Year for under-18s.
For each section and category, the jury chooses a winner, a runner-up and five honourable mentions. Besides the Green Camera trophies, honour and attention, there are serious prizes attached to the Green Camera with a total value of almost €15,000.
Photo exhibition
The Green Camera is an initiative of Nature Photography Magazine and PiXFACTORY. This collaboration results in a photo exhibition of more than seventy photos. Besides all winners, the exhibition also features the photos of all honourable mentions in the sections Nature Photo of the Year and Nature Talent of the Year.
https://www.museon-omniversum.nl/en/tentoonstelling/de-groene-camera-2024
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