Close and personal portrait of pensive gorilla wins 2022 African Wildlife Photography Awards

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and Nature’s Best Photography (NBP) have announced the winners of the 2022 Benjamin Mkapa African Wildlife Photography Awards. This contest “Brings Africa to the World, and the World to Africa,” and it introduces us to diverse African wildlife through a series of stunning images.

This year’s competition attracted 9,500 entries from 57 countries including entrants from 16 African countries. The overall winner is Michelle Kranz, and her amazing portrait of an endangered mountain gorilla brought her a US$ 5,000 grand prize and a large specially-commissioned stone elephant sculpture. The contest also recognizes 13 category winners, each of whom received US$ 1,000 and a stone elephant sculpture.

Speaking of categories, they are as follows:

• African Conservation Heroes
• Coexistence and Conflict
• African Wildlife at Risk
• Fragile Wilderness
• African Wildlife Behavior
• African Wildlife Portraits
• Africa’s Backyard Wildlife
• Art in Nature
• Creative Digital
• Mobile
• Africa in Motion/Video
• Youth Photographers of the Year (one inside Africa and one international)

The contest aims not only to treat us with some amazing photos. Above all, it aims to engage and involve both Africans and visitors to aid conservation through visual storytelling. Benjamin Mkapa Awards are hence named in honor of the late, iconic African leader and former Tanzanian President, H.E. Benjamin Mkapa. He was dedicated to conservation education throughout Africa, and his impactful support of AWF programs was recognized across the continent.

In addition to the prizes, all winning and highly commended photos are displayed as stunning large-format prints and HD video at the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya through February 2023. The exhibition of 77 prints and 4 videos will travel to other museums and galleries in global locations. You can find out more about the contest here, and now, let’s take a look at the category winners.

Africa in Motion (video) winner: James Gifford