Wildlife / Animals nominee

Behold this enchanting scene captured through my lens: a Praying Mantis donning the guise of a deceased leaf, its wings delicately illuminated in a dance of creative light. Poised upon the branch, it appears as a graceful ballerina, ready to pirouette through the woodland stage. This mantis, a master of mimicry, blurs the lines between insect and art, embodying the magic of nature's theatrics.

Irina Petrova Adamatzky is a Bristolian internationally published and award winning photographer and artist. She specializes in wildlife micro-photography and science fiction inspired installations organically integrating living and artificial entities. A unique feature of her work is she mostly uses retro manual focus lenses to share the wonders of the world. She has won a substantial number of awards and prizes, including MUSE Photography Awards 2022 and 2021, BIFA 2021 and BIFA 2020, New York Photography Awards 2021, winner of FEP Awards 2021 Nature Golden Camera and ND Discovery of the Year in category Nature 2019. She is also a member of the committee of the Royal Photographic Society Women in Photography group.