Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the NHM: Final Months to Visit
Spring is the sweet spot for Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The winter crowds have thinned, the Easter holidays have not yet arrived, and the 61st edition of the world's best-known nature photography competition still has four months to run at the Natural History Museum. It opened on 17 October 2025 and closes on 12 July 2026, so now is a good moment to go.
The image everyone is talking about
This year's overall winner is South African photographer Wim van den Heever, for Ghost Town Visitor. It shows a rare brown hyena moving through Kolmanskop, the abandoned diamond mining town in the Namibian desert where sand has crept into the old houses. The picture also won the Urban Wildlife category, and it repays a long look: it is part wildlife portrait, part ghost story about what happens to places people leave behind.
The young winner
The young photographers are often the surprise of the show, and this year's top prize in that strand went to Italy's Andrea Dominizi, winner of the 15 to 17 years category, for After the Destruction. His image of a longhorn beetle on wood shavings turns a small subject into a quiet comment on logging and habitat loss. Look out too for the 19 category winners, announced at a ceremony hosted by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin.
What to expect inside
The competition drew 60,363 entries from 113 countries and territories, according to Amateur Photographer's report on the winners, and the exhibition presents a selection of 100 of them in the museum's Central Building. Each comes with a caption explaining the story behind the shot, from the location and the species to the patience involved in getting the frame, which makes it engrossing for children as well as adults. Allow an hour, more if you read every panel. Weekday mornings in term time tend to be the calmest, leaving space to stand back from the larger prints without a queue at your shoulder.
Make a day of it
The museum is also home to Our Story with David Attenborough, its first immersive experience, which has been extended until 30 August 2026 after strong demand. The roughly 50-minute show, made with Open Planet Studios, projects animation and real-world footage across the gallery's walls and floor as Attenborough tells the four-billion-year story of Earth and our place in it. Combining the two makes for a satisfying half day; museum members get free entry to Wildlife Photographer of the Year. General admission to the permanent galleries remains free.
Practical details
- Tickets are timed and priced by peak, standard and off-peak periods, with Tuesday to Thursday in term time the cheapest and quietest. Check current prices on the museum's exhibition page.
- Under-fours go free, and children pay roughly half the adult price.
- South Kensington station is a five-minute walk via the subway tunnel, which keeps you dry on a showery March day.
For more ideas in SW7 this season, see our guide to things to do around Knightsbridge.
