Nature 1st place winner

Over six years, I’ve explored innovative approaches to photographing northern gannets across some of the UK’s most significant colonies, including those in the Shetland Islands, a place I now call home. This series represents an ongoing investigation into how creative techniques can reveal new perspectives on these birds and their dramatic “edge of the world” existence.
Rather than pursuing conventional wildlife documentation, I’ve employed intentional camera movement, extreme underexposure, and careful manipulation of light and shadow to transform familiar subjects into something more abstract and emotionally resonant.
The work also confronts difficult realities facing these colonies, a reminder of how vulnerable seabird populations remain to disease and environmental pressures.

James is a naturalist and photographer living and working in the Shetland Islands. After several years of travelling there for its incredible wildlife he made a permanent move in 2021. He has a background working in zoological institutions and worked for many years as a senior lecturer in animal and wildlife management, he also holds a degree in Animal Behaviour.

He is now a full time wildlife guide. Working between Shetland and the West Coast of Scotland and where since the age of five he has been developing his fieldcraft and love of costal wildlife. James has worked with and photographed wildlife in destinations across Asia, Africa and Europe, his photography has been recognised and awarded across both national and international competitions.