A curious blacktip shark sidles up to a paddling surfer, their underwater silhouettes creating a mirror-like image. Two formidable Komodo dragons wage a hilltop battle along the majestic coast of Indonesia’s Komodo National Park. A bearded seal snoozes on the water’s surface off the Norway coastline, its whiskers dried into curls in the midnight sunshine.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition — a collection of images from the world’s largest and most prestigious wildlife photography competition — makes its U.S. debut at the Detroit Zoo’s Ford Education Center on Nov. 20. The show runs through June 1, 2016 and is free with zoo admission.
“Year after year, this awe-inspiring exhibition showcases the most incredible images of wildlife from around the globe as well as the skill and perfect timing of the photographers,” says Ron Kagan, executive director and CEO of the Detroit Zoological Society.
The exhibition of winners from the 2015 competition features 100 images dramatically displayed as illuminated large-format color transparencies. The images were chosen from more than 42,000 entries by photographers from 96 countries.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will be open during Wild Lights, the Detroit Zoo’s spectacular holiday display featuring more than five million LED lights. Presented by Bank of America, Wild Lights will be held for 24 nights Nov. 20-22 and 27-29 and Dec. 4-6, 11-13, 18-23 and 26-31, 2015. For information and tickets, visit detroitzoo.org/events/wild-lights.
