Wildlife/Animals nominee

The rockstar of the bison world! In a league of his own. A living icon. This is the biggest and the woolliest bison I have ever photographed. He looks prehistoric even in comparison to other bison.
To me, this bison embodies the spirit of the ancestors. Tatanka stands for bison in one of the Sioux tribes languages. Though, it is not clear to which extent native Americans got to the heart of the Yellowstone ecosystem before the arrival of the Europeans.
A winter wonderland for us is a brutal environment for wildlife. Only the strongest survive. Yellowstone NP, USA.

Dian is a multi-award winning fine art wildlife photographer, scientist, author, inspirational speaker and world records discoverer, specialised in world record and world class individuals in iconic megafauna species.
He creates timeless images by using an immersive approach, portraying as never seen before giants that have captured our imagination. He pays much attention not only to the subject selection, perspective and composition, but also to body postures. If a Statue, a Monument were to be raised to a species, what would that look like?
Dian is the author of the award-winning book The World As It One Was (2020), which combines arresting visuals with solid science. He supports local conservation projects in Africa with proceedings from his book and from fine art prints, including as a two-time contributor to Prints for Wildlife.
He was a member of the jury of the Golden Turtle Photography Awards (2023) and the Jackson Wild Film Festival (2022) and the curator of the exhibition Europe's Wild Heart (Brussels, 2019).
Dian has 10 years of artistic, scientific and conservation experience working with big-tusked African and Asian elephants and about 30 of his images were awarded or were finalists in prestigious photography competitions around the world.