Revin Yamashiro’s photograph “Daydreaming at Fairmont…” (2023) illustrates the challenges of overcoming an inner struggle. (photo by Revin Yamashiro)

The Getty has announced the winning photographers in its third “Unshuttered Open Call,” a statewide photo submission contest for teens.

This year’s theme “A Spectrum of…” asked photographers to consider the different spectrums they might inhabit or experience daily and their subjects. The Getty received more than 2,800 submissions from teenagers in 134 cities throughout California, all of which underwent a thorough review and consideration process. Twenty-five winning photographers were selected by a panel of judges.

The judges included artists Jamaal Hasef Tolbert, Aydinaneth Ortiz and Sloane Sinclaire, who were also part of the 2022 “Unshuttered Open Call” winning cohort; Arpad Kovacs, associate curator of photographs; Carolyn Peter, assistant curator of photographs; Keishia Gu, head of education; Elizabeth Escamilla, assistant director for education and public programs; Richard Rand, associate director for collections; and Tuyet Bach, interpretive content specialist at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

“We are so grateful and inspired by the photographs and level of engagement we had from young photographers. It is an honor to see their work, and to read their artist statements. Their photos offer great insight to the experiences, interests and priorities of the young people who will shape our state in the future,” said Brittany Prieto, senior education specialist for youth programs at the Getty Museum. “Our hope is that the ‘Unshuttered Open Call’ is a catalyst for creativity that then continues and expands for young photographers. We look forward to sharing and celebrating the 25 outstanding photographs in the months ahead.”

This year’s open call was inspired by the priorities and concerns many young people have previously shared in other submissions, while celebrating the distinct perspectives and experiences that make each person unique. The winning photographers will have their photographs shared in “Unshuttered’s” online gallery and presented in public art spaces across California. They will also receive a professional-grade print of their photograph and will receive feedback from a professional photographer. The winners will be invited for a VIP visit to the Getty Center, with travel reimbursement included.

“Unshuttered” is a photographybased initiative that provides a platform for learning, sharing and other opportunities for teens, young people and teachers across the country.

Since its inception, the program has offered a photography intensive program for teens, an app for sharing photographs and skill-building, a nationwide contest for original photographs from young artists, lesson plan resources for high school educators and exhibitions at The Getty and online.

For information and to view the winning photos, visit unshuttered.org.

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Photo: Tracey Lund (UK). Grand Prize Winner and Gold, Behavior – Birds. Subject: Two gannets under the water. Location: Shetland Islands.

A photograph taken on vacation on the Shetland Islands has won photographer Tracey Lund the grand prize of the 2024 World Nature Photography Awards. Her striking photo shows two gannets underwater as they look to snatch a fish for a tasty meal. The UK photographer’s winning photo was selected from the thousands that were entered into the contest.

Lund’s photograph also took home the win in the Behavior – Birds category, one of 14 categories awarded in the contest. From portraits of animals to images of people interacting with the environment, the contest is a rewarding look at all facets of the natural world.

Among the category winners, standouts include Alexander Brackx‘s incredible photo capturing the moment a cheetah attacked a zebra and her foal. The dynamic image is a true look at survival in the wild. On the other hand, Pavlos Evangelidis gives us a serene look at how humans rely on nature for nourishment. The Greek photographer’s image of Sri Lankan fishermen balancing on poles as they cast their lines at sunset is a beautiful look at tradition.

For the first time, the competition is also giving people the opportunity to have their favorite photographs in their homes. A selection of the winning images from this year’s and previous years’ winners is available to purchase in a dedicated online store. In a win for the environment, the contest will plant a tree for every piece of wall art sold.

“Our winners never fail to take our breath away with their stunning images,” said Adrian Dinsdale, co-founder of the WNPAs. “As always, it’s such a joy to see the amazing caliber of entries into the awards. We’re thrilled that people will now have the chance to buy some of these images to grace the walls of their homes.”

Scroll down to see some of our favorite winners and finalists from the 2024 competition.

These are the incredible winners of the 2024 World Nature Photography Awards.

Photo: Alexander Brackx (Belgium). Gold, Behavior – Mammals. Subject: Mother zebra and her foal being attacked by a cheetah. Location: Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.

Photo: Pavlos Evangelidis (Greece). Gold, People and nature. Subject: Traditional stilt fishermen try their luck at sunset. Location: Koggala, Sri Lanka.

Photo: Ivan Pedretti (Italy). Gold, Planet Earth’s landscapes and environments. Subject: Beach and Vestrahorn mountain. Location: Stokksnes, Iceland.

Photo: Andy Schmid (Switzerland). Gold, Underwater. Subject: A female orca splitting a herring bait ball. Location: Skjervøy, Norway.

Photo: Richard Li (USA). Gold, Black and white. Subject: Leopard. Location: East Rift Valley, Kenya.

The contest was founded on the belief that we can all make small efforts to shape the future of our planet in a positive way.

Photo: Celia Kujala (USA). Gold, Nature photojournalism. Subject: Sea lion pup. Location: Coronado Islands, Baja California, Mexico.

Photo: Bill Klipp (USA). Gold, Behavior – Invertebrates. Subject: Sally light-foot crabs. Location: Santiago Island, Galapagos Islands.

Photo: John Seagar (UK). Gold, Behavior – Amphibians and reptiles. Subject: A lava lizard standing on a marine iguana. Location: Galapagos Islands.

Photo: Chatree Lertsintanakorn (Thailand). Gold, Plants and fungi. Subject: Thismia thaithongiana. Location: Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak Province, Thailand.

Photo: Roy Wiesner (Israel). Gold, Urban Wildlife. Subject: Female sunbird. Location: Be’er Ora, Israel.

Photo: Amit Eshel (Israel). Gold, Animals in their habitat. Subject: Nubian Ibex. Location: Negev desert, Israel.

This year’s awards received thousands of entries from photographers across six continents.

Photo: Miki Spitzer (Israel). Gold, Nature Art. Subject: Blue watery veins, glacial braids and golden sediment. Location: Iceland.

Photo: Philip Hamilton (UK). Silver, Underwater. Subject: Young humpback whale. Location: Kingdom of Tonga.

Photo: Kevin Blackwell (USA). Bronze, Behavior – Invertebrates. Subject: Cuckoo wasp, also called an emerald wasp (Chrysis angolensis). Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Photo: Thomas Vijayan (Canada). Silver, Animals in their habitat. Subject: Canadian lynx. Location: Canada.

Photo: Roman Willi (Switzerland). Silver, Urban Wildlife. Subject: Fox. Location: Lucerne, Switzerland.

A selection of the winning images is available for purchase in a special online shop.

Photo: Elizabeth Yicheng Shen (USA). Silver, Behavior – Mammals. Subject: A dead mule deer guarded by a bobcat. Location: Yellowstone National Park, USA.

Photo: Tom Way (UK). Silver, Black and white. Subject: Mother elephant and calf. Location: Amboseli National Park, Kenya.

Photo: Hira Punjabi (India). Bronze, People and nature. Subject: A boy chasing a swarm of locusts. Location: Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India.

Photo: Robert J. Ross (USA). Silver, Nature Art. Subject: Aspen trees. Location: Aspen, Colorado, USA.

Photo: Lakshitha Karunarathhna (Sri Lanka). Silver, Behavior – Birds. Subject: Yellow-billed oxpecker sitting on an African water buffalo. Location: Kenya.

Photo: Karthik Ak (USA). Silver, Behavior – Amphibians and reptiles. Subject: A male night frog calling in front of a clutch of eggs. Location: Amboli, Maharashtra, India.

Photo: Michael Stavrakakis (Australia). Silver, Animal Portraits. Subject: Mother and infant gorilla. Location: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda.

Photo: Partha Roy (Singapore). Bronze, Animal Portraits. Subject: Himalayan griffon vulture (Gyps himalayensis). Location: Chopta in Uttarakhand, India.

Photo: Lennart Stolte (Netherlands). Bronze, Nature photojournalism. Subject: Binturong kept in cage for production of kopi luwak coffee. Location: Sulawesi, Indonesia.

World Nature Photography Awards: Website | Facebook | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by the World Nature Photography Awards.

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The World Nature Photography Awards always produces an abundance of exceptional photographs, and this year has been no exception. Some of the best wildlife cameras have been used to capture nature in all its beauty, from portraits of exotic animals to the humble mushroom the competition brings together the best photography from all over the world. 

The title of World Nature Photographer of the Year 2024 was awarded to Tracey Lund from the UK, for her image ‘Underwater gannets’, an underwater image that depicts two hungry gannets diving for their meal. Taken whilst on holiday off of the coast of Shetland, UK, Lund used a DSLR in an underwater housing attached to a pole cam, all while sitting on the edge of a boat. The image won gold in the Behaviour – Birds category, one of 14 category winners entered into the grand prize draw.  

Speaking on the moment of capture, Lund says, “Thousands of gannets were in the sky above us and then started to dive into the sea after locally caught fish. An unbelievable spectacle to witness, let alone to photograph. I took 1800 images on that day but only had 2 that I could use”. 

Drawn from a pool of thousands of entries submitted from over 6 continents, Lund’s winning image shows exceptional patience and technical skill, awarding her the prestigious title and the $1,000 prize money. 

The winners of the 13 other categories and their images can be seen below: 

The Gold prize category winners are an exceptional example of wildlife and nature photography, a big congratulations to all of the winners. 

Adrian Dinsdale, co-founder of the WNPAs says, “Our winners never fail to take our breath away with their stunning images. As always, it’s such a joy to see the amazing caliber of entries into the awards”.

A full list of winners and runners-up can be found on the World Photography Nature Awards website, along with details on how to enter the World Photography Nature Awards 2025 which has now opened for calls. 

“Art is the thing that is most hopeful.”

This quotation from artist Rita Duffy is one of a number that feature on the walls of the new Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries at the Imperial War Museum (IWM), London. They set the tone for a suite of displays that have people, images and image-making at their heart.

The galleries are beautifully designed, visually rich and interestingly interpreted. A clear emphasis has been put on under-represented groups and less well-known conflicts.

Visitors are greeted by an introductory gallery with a dense, floor-to-ceiling hang of images that show the depth and range of the collection to be explored. A light-touch chronological hang roots the collection and displays in the founding of IWM after world war one, but demonstrates how the museum’s remit has expanded with the spread of modern conflict. The core message is that visual works have a role in war, reflecting social, cultural and political changes and shaping how we think about conflict.

I was struck by the use of the term “visual practitioners” in the introductory text, which highlights the curators’ careful decision to present art, film and photography on an equal playing field of practice and with the different media combined in the hangs.

Displaying film alongside two-dimensional works can present challenges, but here the visual balance works well and the sound is carefully controlled. The works on paper are largely originals or exhibition prints so the hangs presumably allow for ongoing rest and rotation of works.

Space to discover

After the introductory gallery, visitors can explore the further six spaces in any order. The open design draws you in, with varied hangs allowing striking visual relationships and juxtapositions.

The section titled Practice and Process highlights a series of people who engaged visually with war, and the different technologies used to do so. Focus objects in central cases are supported by a band of images running around the walls that show visual practitioners at work.

Examples range from the hat, sketchbook and pencil box used by artist and satirical cartoonist Ronald Searle during his time as a Japanese prisoner of war in world war two, to a wristwatch and notepad used by journalist Paul Eedle while filming in Iraq in 2003. They give a sense of the everyday mixed with the extraordinary. 

The sections entitled Perspectives and Frontiers and Mind and Body focus on landscapes and people respectively, showing war on the ground and in the air, on the home front and in the medical arena.

Both galleries highlight how conflict has pushed artists to find new ways to portray what they see. They also both combine the museum’s rich collections from the two world wars with more recent works, including modern commissions.

Each of the latter galleries also features a dedicated area for viewing longer films. Art Box is focused on artists’ films while Screening Space shows more documentary material.

There is a running order of what is on throughout the day, but I was surprised that no information was provided on what to expect from each film. These varied hugely in length and content, meaning the lack of information made me less likely to stop and commit time, which does the content a disservice.

This was especially surprising, because otherwise the interpretation is a highlight of the galleries and has clearly been given careful thought. Following a concise introductory panel for each space, and further brief information on two or three sub-sections in each room, information is focused on the object labels.

Each follows a three-part structure introducing the practitioner, the image or object, and the context. This draws attention to the importance of the images and their makers, as well as puts them in context.

This allows expansion on the artist’s wider practice, life or influences, as well as the context of conflict, as needed. I loved this approach, which means you can dip in and out of different aspects of each image or object.

The Power of the Image gallery brings the role of image-making in how we see conflict right up to date, focusing on propaganda and evidence. Social media images from recent conflicts raise key questions about the responsibility and authority of images.

For instance, with certain types of image seeming to be more real or creating particular public responses, how should we as viewers come to these with a critical eye? How does this inform how we look at the historic images alongside?

I was surprised that this was the only gallery to feature a content warning, when a number of other works on display included challenging and upsetting content.

Focus on… the conservation of Gassed by John Singer Sargent

Ahead of the centre-stage redisplay of John Singer Sargent’s Gassed in the new Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries, the monumental first world war painting has undergone significant conservation. Varnish removal, remedial structural work, as well as frame conservation, has revealed afresh the visual power of the work.

Following conservation, cutting edge technology captured high-resolution data in 3D, colour and infrared.

The opportunity to conserve Gassed has provided insight not afforded to anyone since the creation of the work in 1919. No IWM team before now has had the project context, budget or time for such an undertaking.

The scale of the work has dictated much of its life, and necessitated innovation from curators and conservators alike. A unique hanging system and install methodology that supported the canvas and frame independently of one another was constructed to ensure the future structural integrity of the six-metre-long work.

The restoration has also yielded new data about the physical history of the work and Sargent’s process. This has further enabled cutting-edge forms of photographic scanning that can be shared with audiences.

Presented on a bespoke vista wall and as the centrepiece of a thematic gallery dedicated to the Mind and Body, Gassed has been reunited with other works made under the British War Memorials Scheme in the first world war. The freshness of Sargent’s colour and light is striking and allows visitors to make connections with the vivid human experience of war more than a century ago.

Rebecca Newell is the head of art for IWM and was the lead curator for the new galleries 

There is a notable focus on accessibility throughout the Blavatnik galleries. For instance, a dedicated area of the introductory gallery features an information point with a tactile gallery map, BSL film and large-print guides.

And well-designed seating – with backs and arm rests – is spaced regularly throughout the galleries, although I did feel that some of the longer films included in the mixed-media hangs expected visitors to stand for an unreasonably long time.

Likewise, the focus on using language such as “visual practitioner and “image” clearly aims to move away from a hierarchy of art and artists, and to allow for the widest diversity of lived experiences and practitioners to be represented.

I was struck, for instance, by the portrait of company quarter-master-sergeant Van Omoheusen of the ATS in Ceylon in the introductory gallery, and a number of works from the British government’s “native-born colonial artists” scheme.

More recent works include Emily Jacir’s Where We Come From Series (2001-03) reflecting the experiences of Palestinians living in exile.

Visitors to these galleries will find famous masterpieces of IWM’s visual collections redisplayed alongside perhaps lesser-known contemporary works.

John Singer Sargent’s seminal work Gassed (1919) has undergone significant conservation and now appears in a powerful juxtaposition with Steve McQueen’s Queen and Country (2006), creating the long central view through the suite of galleries.

The displays will offer an important means to think about images and conflict for both those encountering these collections for the first time and those revisiting old friends. Like the best permanent galleries, I suspect they can only fully be appreciated through repeat and frequent visits.