Wildlife Photographer of the Year just crowned its 2026 winner, and it is a photograph that stops you cold. The Natural History Museum in London announced the results on October 13, naming Italian wildlife photographer Federico Veronesi as Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 for The Aftermath, a black and white image of a female elephant carrying her dead calf through the Huab River Valley in Namibia. The judges picked the winners from a record 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories, and the commemorative book, Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 36, was published in the United Kingdom on October 14.
The picture everyone is talking about
Veronesi moved from Italy to Kenya in 2002 to live among the animals he photographs, and he now leads photographic safaris across sub-Saharan Africa. He was tracking elephants when he noticed an unusual pattern of drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed. When he caught up with the family group, a female stepped out holding the calf, its leg wedged between her tusk and trunk. According to the museum's gallery page, he shot it on a Nikon Z8 with a 400mm f2.8 lens. Kathy Moran, chair of the jury, called it "a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant," and said that intellectually "it's proof that animals have cognition."
The science behind it is just as gripping. The museum notes that both Asian and African elephants have been seen vocalizing over their dead, guarding them, handling their bones and carrying them. Some researchers read that as an elephant's journey toward understanding death, while others see it as a display of grief. Either way, it is one of the most powerful nature images in years.
A first in 62 years
For the first time in the competition's history, both overall winners were recognized for black and white photography. Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 went to Oscar Whitfield, a young British photographer who grew up in Zimbabwe, for Labour of Love, a dung beetle shoving its ball through hot dust. He lay flat on the ground in Zambezi National Park to shoot it at eye level on a Canon EOS R6 Mark II, and jury member Jasper Doest said the image "feels so intentional." Other category winners include Tony Wu for Underwater, Seth Forestson for Urban Wildlife, Michał Michalski for Natural Artistry and Kutub Uddin for the Portfolio Award. You can browse them all in the official gallery.
See the show in London
The exhibition of all 100 awarded images opens at the Natural History Museum on Friday, October 16, and runs until Sunday, July 11, 2027, before heading out on a tour of the United Kingdom and beyond. The museum strongly advises booking ahead, and weekends sell out fast, so grab exhibition tickets early if a London trip is on the cards. Photographers with their own shot in mind can enter next year's competition starting Monday, October 19.
Bring the winners home
The book is the best way to keep the whole set. Portfolio 36, edited by Keith Wilson with a foreword by Moran, is a 160-page hardcover from the museum's own publishing imprint with all 100 awarded pictures and the stories behind them, including how each one was made and the equipment used. That makes it a coffee table book and a field manual in one, and a seriously good gift for anyone who owns a long lens.
- The new one. Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 36 is up for pre-order now, with the United States edition listed for January 19, 2027.
- Last year's winners, ready now. Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 35 collects the 100 images from the 2025 competition and ships today.
Prefer something for the wall? The museum's official shop already sells wall prints of this year's images, Labour of Love included, plus a 2027 calendar. And if photo books are your thing, see our picks on Zanele Muholi's Faces and Phases, Tina Barney's Fashion and John Divola's Sheila.
Natural History Museum press release · Wildlife Photographer of the Year · Portfolio 36
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