Amelia’s Magazine | Izzy Lane: an interview with ethical knitwear designer Isobel Davies

Yelena Bryksenkova Izzy Lane AW 08-09
Izzy Lane A/W 2008 by Yelena Bryksenkova.

What was the path to setting up Izzy Lane? 
I started an organic food company when I became aware of the hundreds of permitted toxic chemicals used in food production that are wreaking devastation on our wildlife and natural world. Through my work with organic farmers I then discovered what was happening in the wool industry – that farmers were burying and burning their wool because they were paid such a pittance. Because we do not use wool as much as we used to the British textile industry, viagra dosage buy more about once the powerhouse of the nation, is on its knees – as are the communities it once supported. I had no training in fashion but I’d always had an interest in clothes which was nurtured when I lived in London as a singer and songwriter and playing in bands as a bass and saxophone player. If you are creative, you tend to be able to transfer that creativity across different media, and I became determined to start a label using British wool.

Your sheep are rescued from abattoirs – it all sounds very romantic, but how do you find them and rescue them? 
I physically don’t go to abattoirs. I think if I ever saw inside one I would never get over it for the rest of my life. I intervene before it gets that far. I am contacted by breeders who tell me what animals they are sending to slaughter and then I buy them at the market price. I can’t refuse any animals once I am aware of them – I feel it is my responsibility to rescue them. Thankfully the rate at which I am contacted has slowed. The shepherd who looks after them rolls his eyes when I tell him a new batch is arriving. He also gets annoyed that I am being made to pay the full price – some of the sheep arrive with health problems which need a lot of veterinary care.

Izzy Lane A/W 2008 by Yelena Bryksenkova
Izzy Lane A/W 2008 by Yelena Bryksenkova.

Where are you based now?
I moved up to Richmond, Yorkshire a few years ago and it took some adjusting to – I miss my favourite restaurants, the markets and the cosmopolitan buzz of London. However, I am living in the most stunningly beautiful landscape where I can drive for hours without seeing another car. I love walking in the hills with my black labrador, putting life into perspective, but I still go back to London to go shopping and see my friends. It would have been a different story ten years ago but thanks to technology I can do all my work from here.

How does the landscape and people affect the way that you design? 
I think that what one designs comes from many influences, both past and present – most that we are probably unaware of. For example, details of treasured garments from childhood, mother’s coat, old black and white films from the 50’s and 60’s. I am sure the colour palette of the moors feeds into my designs.

How did dairy farmer turned shepherd Ernest Ayre come to look after your sheep?
My first four sheep lived in a paddock at the end of the road but one day they vanished. Ernest, who had adjacent fields, appeared and offered to help find them. He followed their tracks and we found they had gone on an adventure in the woods. I think they’d got lost and found it a bit creepy in the forest at night so they happily followed us back. That is when Ernest fell for the Wensleydales and he offered to take them on… and the next 600.

What has been the most interesting or exciting fact that you have learnt about sheep, since you started working with them so closely? 
I find it really fascinating to observe how sheep are really no different to us. They hang around in gangs and sometimes they will single out one particular sheep to chase around the field – but it isn’t malicious, they just like larking around. I’m always moved by the bond between a lamb and its mother and siblings. They display real affection towards each other…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Izzy Lane’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.

Categories ,Abattoir, ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,british, ,Dairy, ,Eco fashion, ,Ernest Ayre, ,Ethical Fashion, ,Isobel Davies, ,Izzy Lane, ,organic, ,Richmond, ,sheep, ,Shepherd, ,Wensleydales, ,wildlife, ,wool, ,Yelena Bryksenkova, ,Yorkshire

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Amelia’s Magazine | Frans Lanting and Philip Glass: LIFE: A Journey Through Time performed at the Barbican by the LSO

Frans Lanting Joanne Young
Frans Lanting. Illustration by Joanne Young.

Way back in the depths of February I went for a very different night out in the middle of London Fashion Week. This was for the London premiere, at the Barbican, of an unusual multimedia collaboration between composer Philip Glass and Frans Lanting – a wildlife photographer much beloved of the National Geographic. LIFE: A Journey Through Time comprised an orchestral performance by the London Symphony Orchestra played beneath a huge three screen projection of photographs depicting the evolution of life on earth: not a big task at all then. The images have also been turned into a beautiful (and heavy) coffee table tome produced by Taschen, which is available here.

Life: A Journey Through Time
You wouldn’t want to drop this on your toes.

When I was I child my parents seemed hopeful that I’d become a serious violinist, so at the weekends I was dragged on numerous trips to watch classical music performed at the Royal Festival Hall and ever since then the idea of doing the same under my own steam brings back memories of mind-numbing boredom. What a great idea though – create something for those of us more visually inclined to look so that our minds don’t wander too far. I was hoping that the combination of imagery with music would produce something so much more engaging than your usual orchestral performance.

Barbican gallery

I was not disappointed: from the upper gallery we had a great view of the screens onto which were projected a mixture of stunning images from Lanting’s back catalogue together with many that were specifically taken for this project, one which clearly necessitated many further trips into pristine wildernesses to capture the world as it might have been many years before man arrived on the scene. The music and the images were expertly ‘choreographed’ by Alexander Nichols for the first ever performance, held in 2006 in Santa Cruz, and have been altered and adapted at each ensuing one. LIFE: A Journey Through Time has now been performed all over the world, including at the official inauguration ceremony of the CERN Hadron Collider. You can watch an excerpt of the show here.

After the performance we stayed on for a Q&A session, which was unexpectedly interesting – possibly due to the high calibre of the audience questions – a rarity! Together, Franz Lanting (the man with the idea), conductor Marin Alsop and Cameron Hepburn, an environmental economist and representative of Julie’s Bicycle (on organisation that seeks to reduce the carbon emissions of the music industry) talked about the processes and ethics behind the performance.

frans lanting turtles
Image courtesy of Frans Lanting.

The extreme luminosity of the projections were perfect for showcasing the impressive images, which somehow took on an otherworldly feel despite being very much about our own amazing earth. Lanting did his best to find images that look hyper real in the first place, which of course has been abetted by the move to digital photography. “All the most recent images were taken on digital cameras and the colour of earlier ones were synchronised with them.” No longer do we need to worry about the quality of “crummy prints.” The project was only supposed to take a few years to do, but unsurprisingly Lanting kept finding new and interesting things to photograph. How does he locate and then shoot his subject matter? “It takes a lot of patience and research; finding out where and when to go to a place. You can’t just sit behind a tree and hope for the best – you have to engage and then get out of the way quickly.” He offered as an example the yawning jaws of a hippo. No, you wouldn’t want to stay too close to that particular vision!

frans lanting ferns
Image courtesy of Frans Lanting.

The biggest issue for Lanting was how to weave the human story into such a beautiful project without really, erm, sullying the imagery with shots of actual humans. Seems I’m not the only one who regards us as a blight on the planet. He decided that the best way to do this was to subtly represent the vulnerability of humanity with an image of an embryo, a curiously delicate pair of human feet, and cross sections of brain and hands to highlight the universal branching patterns that can are found everywhere in nature, from landscapes to music. Setting the imagery to music made perfect sense because everyone can relate to music in the same way that they can relate to the natural world. “Resonance is indigenous to life, so the same patterns repeat themselves at different scales in whatever form.”

Frans Lanting croc
Image courtesy of Frans Lanting.

And this is where the choice of Glass came in. “Selecting the composer for this work was a logical decision,” explained Lanting. “I’d had his music in my ears for decades because it has the same organic focus on pattern as you find in the natural world.” And anyway Steve Reich won’t work with an orchestra, so that put paid to his inclusion in the project.

Marin Alsop Joanne Young
Marin Alsop. Ilustration by Joanne Young.

As for the conductor, Marin Alsop. Well, I and most of the audience were most surprised to discover that there was no automatic synching of the music to the imagery – she does it all done totally live. “It’s quite a tricky thing to keep in time with the images,” she admitted. No shit! I was seriously impressed. Added difficulties arise when the images are changed around from performance to performance. “Sometimes I’m looking for an iguana and it’s become a bird.” She tries to keep in time by doodling eyeballs in the correct places on her score, although she admitted that “it’s mostly just luck when everything lines up.”

Cameron Hepburn Joanne Young
Cameron Hepburn. Illustration by Joanne Young.

So why do this? Why put together this piece and then tout it all over the globe? “It’s all about humanity being in the same place experiencing something together at the same time” was the best that the panelists could come up with. This is where I struggle. It’s a beautiful piece of work and one that I would highly recommend anyone to go and see – it’s evocative, engaging, mournful, emotional. But the creators are also being flown all over the world to promote the piece, which in itself is a carbon intensive production. Because I feel so very conflicted about projects like this I was really interested to hear the thoughts of Hepburn, who admitted that although he cycled to the Barbican he also flies around the world to attend conferences on climate change. He was also disarmingly honest in questioning how successful this performance could be in raising awareness of climate change and the attendant huge loss of biodiversity that we currently face.

frans lanting jellyfish
Image courtesy of Frans Lanting.

Yes the performance was incredibly moving, and the accompanying book is very beautiful and I’d really like a copy, yes please, as did many of the punters queueing around the shop to buy it – but what exactly will its purchase do, apart from provide a bit of wow factor for the coffee table? Having enjoyed this performance, will the audience go away and change anything deeper about their lifestyles? Am I a cynic to doubt they will? The main demographic were assuredly middle class cultured types of the sort who think nothing of flying half way across the world on holiday and then assuage their conscience by staying in an eco-lodge. Does this really help preserve the glory of our natural world? I am sure that the production of this work alone has justified Lanting’s global jaunts to fragile places of beauty many times over. Therein lies the conundrum: it’s important to document and tell people about what we risk losing and Lanting is particularly good at capturing the raw primeval beauty of the natural world – but when the very production of those photos contributes to global warming, where does that leave us?

frans lanting cheetah
Image courtesy of Frans Lanting.

Humans are programmed to rejoice in the wonder of the natural world; it’s why we love to travel abroad and experience the landscapes of beautiful unspoilt places. I love being in wild places so much that it was one of the reasons I decided to pursue fashion photography for a while – it allowed me to seek out amazing locations that I would never otherwise have been able to justify visiting. But we’ve become so greedy to see all the beautiful places of the world that we bury our heads and do our best not to consider the heavy carbon costs of air travel. How many people actually think about what that holiday to a pristine wilderness now costs us on a planetary wide scale? And how do we balance having a global view not only of the beauty we risk losing, but the multitudes of cultures and peoples, whilst taking into account the costs of travel?

Frans Lanting volcano
Image courtesy of Frans Lanting.

I don’t know what the answer is. If I’m honest I’m jealous that Lanting has a reason to justify his visits to the Galapagos and I don’t. But would I fly there repeatedly if I had the opportunity to do the same? Probably not. My conscience just weighs too heavy. Although maybe I can justify just that one trip for myself in my lifetime… Now how long does it take to get there by boat?

Categories ,barbican, ,Cameron Hepburn, ,CERN, ,Classical Music, ,Frans Lanting, ,Galapagos, ,Hippo, ,Joanne Young, ,Julie’s Bicycle, ,London Fashion Week, ,London Symphony Orchestra, ,LSO, ,Marin Alsop, ,Minimalist music, ,Philip Glass, ,photography, ,Royal Festival Hall, ,Santa Cruz, ,wildlife

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Amelia’s Magazine | Thoughts on the Falklands

ROCKHO~2

Let’s get out of here: Do the penguins know something we don’t?

You have to hand it to Desire Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration, stomach choosing a rig named Ocean Guardian to carry out the much publicised second exploratory drilling off the coast of the Falkland Islands shows a great grasp of irony.

Much in the media over the last few days has been made of the diplomatic spat that’s broken out between the British and Argentine governments over who has the right to drill for oil off the islands, buy but that ignores the big issue in all this, ed surely – war is an enormously unlikely consequence; after the debacle that’s been Iraq and the ongoing Afghan conflict, UK politicians certainly have no taste for it and here’s especially why. No, the big issue is the toll that drilling will inevitably take on the Falklands’ environment – both social and natural.

Carcass_panoramic_0897__0896_1 Carcass island: will rugged beauty have to give way to downright ugly?

First the social side, the vast majority of the populations where the thirst for oil drilling has taken hold in recent decades have not got rich quick – or at all – as one or two Falklands residents interviewed in the media last week, with dollar signs seemingly lighting up in their eyes, seem not to have noticed. Take the Niger Delta, for instance, or Aberdeen. Indeed, while a fair proportion of the latter’s economy is driven by the oil industry’s presence in the area, it’s hardly helped it to become the British Abu Dhabi.

Second, the natural environment. The Falkland Islands are world-renowned for their natural beauty, especially their wildlife. Almost 300 species of flowering plants and an extensive number of bird species call the Falklands home, while seals, sealions, dolphins and whales count the islands’ coasts or their waters as their habitat. And already there’s a movement insisting that the islands’ penguin numbers – made up of five different breeds – are dying in their thousands due to over-fishing. What effect will the oil industry have on all that if it succeeds and sets up camp on the islands? Well, it certainly isn’t going to be pretty. All this, of course, is in addition to the general global damage that will be done by setting up yet more oil-driven energy resources for years to come on these islands, as opposed to investing in greener technology.

309_1Ocean Guardian rig: very black humour

And that leads me on to my final point – and here’s the real rub. Believe it or not the Falklands government, the same politicians who are only too happy to invite the oil people to their islands with open arms – presently aim to ensure 40 percent of the Falklands’ own energy is wind technology-based. Hypocritical much?

One or two of the islands’ residents may well be right in thinking they stand to make a mint out of oil coming to the Falklands, but it will be left to the rest of the 3,000-plus population to pick up the pieces – probably quite literally.

Categories ,Adam Bollard, ,earth, ,environment, ,Falkland Islands, ,Ocean Guardian, ,oil, ,Penguins, ,wildlife, ,wind technology

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Amelia’s Magazine | Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2009 – Take a walk on the wild side

laura-marling

Monday 2nd November, viagra Daniel Johnston and Laura Marling, check Union Chapel

Troubled singer-songwriter troubadour Johnston returns to the circuit playing his brand of brutally honest lo-fi songs ahead of next year’s new album release. Joining him in this tour is equally avoiding of eye contact and (almost) equally as beguiling, more about Marling who will probably also have new material to share.

camera-obscura

Tuesday 3rd November, Camera Obscura, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Glaswegian group, Camera Obscura, play their saccharine, melancholic indie pop evocative of Belle & Sebastian including latest album, ‘My Maudlin Career.’

everything everything

Wednesday 4th November, Everything Everything, ICA

These four Mancunian chaps have provided one of Amelia’s Magazine’s favourite songs of 2009 in Photoshop Handsome, we’re hoping the rest of their set can deliver as perfectly crafted indie pop and doesn’t veer to far down The Futureheads vein.

Gaggle2

Thursday 5th November, Dead Kids, Gaggle and Invasion, Corsica Studios

This club night by South East London collective, Off Modern, consistently puts out great music and for their fifth birthday celebration they are putting on a right royal shebang of a party. The celebratory music is provided by party starters Dead Kids, all-girl choir sensation Gaggle (pictured) and cosmic psych-metallers Invasion.

lulu-small

Friday 6th November, Peggy Sue, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Mechanical Bride and Lulu & The Lampshades, ICA

For the sake of adhering to the mantra including the words, ‘variety’ ‘spice’ and ‘life’, we wouldn’t usually promote revisiting venues in the same week, but Peggy Sue, formerly possessed of Pirates, gives us an excuse to do just that. There are a host a great support acts including our former Music Editor, Lulu & The Lampshades.

james-yorkston

Saturday 7th November, James Yorkston And The Big Eyes Family Players, Alasdair Roberts, Marry Gilhooley and Mary Hampton & David Jaycock, The Tabernacle

For an anti-X Factor, anti-Saturday night out sample this almighty cast of folk polymath players play The Tabernacle with Yorkston heading the bill. Enigmatic Roberts and ethereal Hampton are particular gems in this stellar line-up.

espers

Sunday 8th November, Espers, Rough Trade East

This Philadelphian neo-folk sextet are known for their evocative blend of traditional and 60s folk and, yes you guessed it, have a new album to plug, ‘III’ follows a self-consciously song-based path. And what’s more this is free.
laura-marling

Monday 2nd November, more about Daniel Johnston and Laura Marling, Union Chapel

Troubled singer-songwriter troubadour Johnston returns to the circuit playing his brand of brutally honest lo-fi songs ahead of next year’s new album release. Joining him in this tour is equally avoiding of eye contact and (almost) equally as beguiling, Marling who will probably also have new material to share.

camera-obscura

Tuesday 3rd November, Camera Obscura, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Glaswegian group, Camera Obscura, play their saccharine, melancholic indie pop evocative of Belle & Sebastian including latest album, ‘My Maudlin Career.’

everything everything

Wednesday 4th November, Everything Everything, ICA

These four Mancunian chaps have provided one of Amelia’s Magazine’s favourite songs of 2009 in Photoshop Handsome, we’re hoping the rest of their set can deliver as perfectly crafted indie pop and doesn’t veer to far down The Futureheads vein.

Gaggle2

Thursday 5th November, Dead Kids, Gaggle and Invasion, Corsica Studios

This club night by South East London collective, Off Modern, consistently puts out great music and for their fifth birthday celebration they are putting on a right royal shebang of a party. The celebratory music is provided by party starters Dead Kids, all-girl choir sensation Gaggle (pictured) and cosmic psych-metallers Invasion.

lulu-small

Friday 6th November, Peggy Sue, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Mechanical Bride and Lulu & The Lampshades, ICA

For the sake of adhering to the mantra including the words, ‘variety’ ‘spice’ and ‘life’, we wouldn’t usually promote revisiting venues in the same week, but Peggy Sue, formerly possessed of Pirates, gives us an excuse to do just that. There are a host a great support acts including our former Music Editor, Lulu & The Lampshades.

james-yorkston

Saturday 7th November, James Yorkston And The Big Eyes Family Players, Alasdair Roberts, Marry Gilhooley and Mary Hampton & David Jaycock, The Tabernacle

For an anti-X Factor, anti-Saturday night out sample this almighty cast of folk polymath players play The Tabernacle with Yorkston heading the bill. Enigmatic Roberts and ethereal Hampton are particular gems in this stellar line-up.

espers

Sunday 8th November, Espers, Rough Trade East

This Philadelphian neo-folk sextet are known for their evocative blend of traditional and 60s folk and, yes you guessed it, have a new album to plug, ‘III’ follows a self-consciously song-based path. And what’s more this is free.
laura-marling

Monday 2nd November, see Daniel Johnston and Laura Marling, website Union Chapel

Troubled singer-songwriter troubadour Johnston returns to the circuit playing his brand of brutally honest lo-fi songs ahead of next year’s new album release. Joining him in this tour is equally avoiding of eye contact and (almost) equally as beguiling, tadalafil Marling who will probably also have new material to share.

camera-obscura

Tuesday 3rd November, Camera Obscura, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Glaswegian group, Camera Obscura, play their saccharine, melancholic indie pop evocative of Belle & Sebastian including latest album, ‘My Maudlin Career.’

everything everything

Wednesday 4th November, Everything Everything, ICA

These four Mancunian chaps have provided one of Amelia’s Magazine’s favourite songs of 2009 in Photoshop Handsome, we’re hoping the rest of their set can deliver as perfectly crafted indie pop and doesn’t veer to far down The Futureheads vein.

Gaggle2

Thursday 5th November, Dead Kids, Gaggle and Invasion, Corsica Studios

This club night by South East London collective, Off Modern, consistently puts out great music and for their fifth birthday celebration they are putting on a right royal shebang of a party. The celebratory music is provided by party starters Dead Kids, all-girl choir sensation Gaggle (pictured) and cosmic psych-metallers Invasion.

lulu-small

Friday 6th November, Peggy Sue, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Mechanical Bride and Lulu & The Lampshades, ICA

For the sake of adhering to the mantra including the words, ‘variety’ ‘spice’ and ‘life’, we wouldn’t usually promote revisiting venues in the same week, but Peggy Sue, formerly possessed of Pirates, gives us an excuse to do just that. There are a host a great support acts including our former Music Editor, Lulu & The Lampshades.

james-yorkston

Saturday 7th November, James Yorkston And The Big Eyes Family Players, Alasdair Roberts, Marry Gilhooley and Mary Hampton & David Jaycock, The Tabernacle

For an anti-X Factor, anti-Saturday night out sample this almighty cast of folk polymath players play The Tabernacle with Yorkston heading the bill. Enigmatic Roberts and ethereal Hampton are particular gems in this stellar line-up.

espers

Sunday 8th November, Espers, Rough Trade East

This Philadelphian neo-folk sextet are known for their evocative blend of traditional and 60s folk and, yes you guessed it, have a new album to plug, ‘III’ follows a self-consciously song-based path. And what’s more this is free.
laura-marling

Monday 2nd November, tadalafil Daniel Johnston and Laura Marling, pharmacy Union Chapel

Troubled singer-songwriter troubadour Johnston returns to the circuit playing his brand of brutally honest lo-fi songs ahead of next year’s new album release. Joining him in this tour is equally avoiding of eye contact and (almost) equally as beguiling, medical Marling who will probably also have new material to share.

camera-obscura

Tuesday 3rd November, Camera Obscura, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Glaswegian group, Camera Obscura, play their saccharine, melancholic indie pop evocative of Belle & Sebastian including latest album, ‘My Maudlin Career.’

everything everything

Wednesday 4th November, Everything Everything, ICA

These four Mancunian chaps have provided one of Amelia’s Magazine’s favourite songs of 2009 in Photoshop Handsome, we’re hoping the rest of their set can deliver as perfectly crafted indie pop and doesn’t veer to far down The Futureheads vein.

Gaggle2

Thursday 5th November, Dead Kids, Gaggle and Invasion, Corsica Studios

This club night by South East London collective, Off Modern, consistently puts out great music and for their fifth birthday celebration they are putting on a right royal shebang of a party. The celebratory music is provided by party starters Dead Kids, all-girl choir sensation Gaggle (pictured) and cosmic psych-metallers Invasion.

lulu-small

Friday 6th November, Peggy Sue, Sons of Noel and Adrian, Mechanical Bride and Lulu & The Lampshades, ICA

For the sake of adhering to the mantra including the words, ‘variety’ ‘spice’ and ‘life’, we wouldn’t usually promote revisiting venues in the same week, but Peggy Sue, formerly possessed of Pirates, gives us an excuse to do just that. There are a host a great support acts including our former Music Editor, Lulu & The Lampshades.

james-yorkston

Saturday 7th November, James Yorkston And The Big Eyes Family Players, Alasdair Roberts, Marry Gilhooley and Mary Hampton & David Jaycock, The Tabernacle

For an anti-X Factor, anti-Saturday night out sample this almighty cast of folk polymath players play The Tabernacle with Yorkston heading the bill. Enigmatic Roberts and ethereal Hampton are particular gems in this stellar line-up.

espers

Sunday 8th November, Espers, Rough Trade East

This Philadelphian neo-folk sextet are known for their evocative blend of traditional and 60s folk and, yes you guessed it, have a new album to plug, ‘III’ follows a self-consciously song-based path. And what’s more this is free.
LAWRENCE ALEX WU

This year the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2009 graces the walls of the Natural History Museum for another year and it’s safe to say this is one exhibition that cannot be missed. Owned by the museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine, information pills the competition is one that prides itself on exposing and celebrating the diversity of life on the planet.

MICHAL BUDZYNSKI

The room dedicated to this exhibition is dimly lit and you discover that this is to make way for the photographs themselves. Each one is displayed on a screen, illuminated from behind so that each stands alone, emitting an almost magnetic glow. The competiton is divided into categories, first showing the winner and then a selection of those that are highly recommended.

IGOR SHPILENOK

Under the heading of ‘Urban and Garden Wildlife’ I find the corresponding winner to be something of a stroke of genius. The entries are required to be poignant, beautiful or striking comopositions of wild animals or plants in urban or suburban settings. The judges look for uncommonly good images of common subjects. It’s easy to see why ‘Respect’ by Igor Shpilenok (Russia) was the judges’ favourite. The centre of the photo is a stage for a stand off – one small domestic cat against a considerably bigger wild fox. This is one cat whose bark(or meow)is bigger than its bite. There’s something quite triumphant about this scene – you feel a sense of jubilation in his victory over the intruder. Shplienok was working as a ranger in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka, Russia with his cat Ryska for company. He comments that, “One day Ryska, protecting me, ran to attack an approaching fox. The fox bottled it and Ryska instantly earned respect from the foxes – and me”.

FLORIS VAN BREUGEL

In this exhibition, it’s not only the animals that are showcased – there are also categories committed to the plant kingdom. ‘Wild Places’ presents photographs that must show scenes that are wild and awe-inspiring. The judges look for beautiful light, a true feeling of wilderness and a sense of awe. The photograph of ‘The Fountain Of Ice’ by Floris Van Breugel is one that doesn’t quite register at first. It’s easy to read it as a digitally manipulated image and even after a closer glance it’s hard not see it in this way. Had I not known it’s origin, it could just be another picture in the same vein as other framed waterfall paintings found hung on the walls of a garishly decorated Seventies living room. But what makes this all the more impressive is that this is, without question, a completely bona fide photograph. Taken in the Bailey Range in Olympic National Park, Washington, it shows the interior of an ice-cave and waterfall. The ice had melted to the thickness that allowed just the right amount of light to filter through and produce an ‘otherworldly blue, illuminating the waterfall and waterside plants’.

DANIEL SZABO

Young aspiring photographers also have the opportunity to be in the spotlight. As soon as they are old enough to hold a camera up to the age of seventeen, the Junior Awards praise the achievements of new emerging talent. The stand out piece for me was by Daniel Szabo from Hungary with his entry of ‘Deer At Dawn’. Although not the winning piece of his category, I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest that Szabo is a very worthy candidate. The impact is instant – the camera feels like it is amongst the leaves and undergrowth of the forest floor, waiting patiently for the arrival of the lone dear at the end of the tree-lined tunnel. There is a grainy quality to the picture, a haze of forest greens and browns. The silhouette of the dear is framed by a halo of day-break and whilst it’s features are indistinguishable, the stricken stance and jaunted angle of the neck tell you that it has stopped in it’s tracks to look straight at the camera. I find the intimacy of this moment breath taking. In my own internal monolgue as I peruse this collection, I ponder the thought that there doesn’t seem to be another entry in this category that captures quite so strickingly, the awe of being in the presence of such an animal; and a shy and secretive one at that. Szabo states that he was “Walking in the forest of Csapod Village in Hungary when a group of red deer stepped out from the bushes. The first were too quick to photograph, but this hind stopped. That was my lucky day”.

JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ

The overall winner of the competition went to José Luis Rodríguez with his masterpiece, ‘Storybook Wolf’. Having seen this only on the website beforehand, I am confronted with the photograph displayed on a large screen, back-lit and in super sharp detail. After taking in the whole of the exhibition, I feel that there has been some sort of build up to this pièce de résistance, positioned at the very end and with a space of it’s own. I actually get what I think is a shiver up spine as I stand before it. This photograph was chosen as the most striking and memorable of all the entries in the competition and it’s not hard to see why. Rodríguez has been working as a nature photographer in Spain and is said to be an expert in high-speed photography and a pioneer of this technique in is native country. He specializes in taking photos of rare animals in motion, resulting in this remarkable image. Captured in absurdly impressive detail is a wolf leaping the gated fence of a field taken at night time, but with the wolf itself illuminated in an aura of light from the flash. The nature of the method in which it was taken means that the wolf looks as though it is suspended mid-air, like an stuffed animal or an installation. It is quite surreal. It also puts me in mind of the artwork by Cai Guo-Qiang called ‘Head On‘ which shows an installation of many wolves leaping through the air into a pane of glass (also well worth checking out). A truly enchanting piece, the winning piece encapsulates everything that is beautiful and strong about this enigmatic creature.

Categories ,bbc wildlife magazine, ,daniel szabo, ,floris van breugel, ,igor shpilenok, ,jose luis rodriguez, ,natural history museum, ,nature, ,veolia environment wildlife photographer of the year 2009, ,wildlife

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