The Greens have announced the winners of the fourth annual Animals in the Wild photo competition at Gallery Bodalla over the June long weekend, with more than 300 entries embracing the competition’s principle to “shoot with a camera, not a gun”.
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Organisers say the contest was a “positive” counter to the HuntFest event, held in Narooma over the June long weekend since 2012.
Greens MP and justice spokesperson David Shoebridge said he and the Greens supported people around the country, including from the Far South Coast, who opposed the guns and “killing culture” of hunting.
“It’s that time of the year again when our office is overwhelmed with beautiful images that celebrate animals in the wild, unthreatened, and unharmed by humans,” Mr Shoebridge said.
“This year we received more than 300 images of extremely high quality and I know it was a tough job for celebrated photographer Rex Dupain to pick the winners.
“Even as we celebrate Animals in the Wild we must not forget that it runs to counter the Sporting Shooters Association’s (NSW) arms fair “Huntfest” which blights the NSW South Coast every year.
“Huntfest celebrates a pro-gun and killing culture that the majority of Australians don’t accept, all under the banner of a family-friendly event.
“The fact is that the overwhelming majority of residents in the community don’t support HuntFest and do not want their beautiful coastal town known as the home of an arms fair.
“As HuntFest gets becomes bigger and uglier every year, Animals in the Wild is also growing as an important way of demonstrating that it is far more rewarding to shoot animals with a camera than a gun.”
The winning entries were:
Category A: The image that most evokes a connection with an animal in the wild in Australia
Winner: Diamond Python by Sue-Ellen Smith
Runner up: Sunset Scenery by Jessy Willemse
Category B: The most beautiful image of a bird
Winner: Black Cockatoo brunching by Tim Heckler
Runner up: Pelicans by Sharon McGrigor
Category C: The image that conveys the threats facing native animals in Australia
Winner: Seahorse by Ed Murphy
Runner up: Little Tern by Charles Dove
Category D: The most beautiful image of an animal in the wild by a photographer aged 16 or under
Winner: Spinifex by Oscar Gordon
Runner up: Frogs on Leaf by Sarah Morris