Australian-German Juergen Freund wins prestigious international photo competition

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Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-11-11

Here's another press release for an even bigger and more prestigeous international photo comptetition:

Jürgen Freund's "Eye of the minke" - Special commendation Animal Portrait - Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007

Described by one of the competition's prominent judges David Doubilet:

"The clarity, colour and crisp focus alone make the image a success. It is the eye, with diamond-like catch of light that turns the picture into the rarest of images: a true whale portrait."

In what has been the most successful, competitive event in the competition's 43-year history, the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007's judging panel, which included some of the world's best nature photographers and most respected wildlife experts, spent three months deliberating over a record 32,000 entries from 78 countries. More than 100 of the winning images are on display at the London's Natural History Museum and are then toured around the UK and the rest of the world, allowing the photos to be seen in their native homes. The exhibition comes to Sydney on Dec 17, 2007 at the Australian Museum.

Held annually, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is open to photographers of all ages, both amateur and professional, and aims to find the best wildlife pictures from around the world. The winning entries for what is the longest running and arguably one of the most prestigious wildlife photography competitions in the world reveal the splendour, drama and variety of life on Earth.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/comments.do?photo=2307&category=7&group=1

Quote from Jürgen Freund (Germany/Australia)

Eye of the minke

"I spent a week on the Undersea Explorer, a research and dive boat. In snorkelling gear, we hung from a line behind the boat and drifted, so as not to frighten the whales. This six to seven metre dwarf minke whale turned up, treating us to rare displays of underwater pirouetting. I felt she was looking straight at me.

Pavlova could easily have swiped me with her tail but she chose to gently be 50cm close - looking straight into my eye, trusting I would not hurt her."

The dwarf minke whale belongs to the same family – Balaenopteridae – as the largest mammal to ever live: the blue whale. The dwarf minke is thought to be a subspecies of the larger northern minke whale, and feeds by sieving small prawn-like krill and fish through curtains of baleen plates in its mouth.

P.S. The image was immediately turned into this month's cover for DIVE Magazine in the UK.

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