By James Bovington
Farsley wildlife photographer Rosie Dutton’s shot of Thor the Arctic walrus has earned her a place in the British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) with the image subsequently placed in their yearbook.
Thor, in Rosie’s own words, ‘visited British shores and did a little tour’ just over a year ago, gaining widespread media attention at the time.
“:I snapped this image during his stay in Scarborough as he was resting for a few days before heading home,” explained Rosie. “The Walrus was named Thor by locals in the area where he was first spotted. Thor stayed where the boats launch.
“The police taped off the area, so nobody disturbed him. I found an empty spot in the crowd to get low with my camera. I wanted to focus on his face as it’s so detailed. He remained asleep with little movement enabling me to get some good shots.”
The BWPA was founded in 2009 by Maggie Gowan and is now directed by photographer Will Nicholls.
Rosie said: “It’s a prestigious award for a wildlife photographer as the photos are exhibited throughout the country and published in a beautiful collection book.
“I entered ten images into different categories including portraits, wild woods, animal behaviour, urban wildlife etc. My photo in the book is from the portraits category. The panel of judges whittled it down to the finalists in the book and then onto the winners etc.”
Rosie, 28, lived with her parents in Rodley until moving to her own home in Farsley three years ago. She works for the EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency) as an assistant visual communications editor, helping the EIA tackle wildlife and environmental crime.
“I love creating media to help save global wildlife and prevent climate change and I know that what I’m creating is helping to better the world environmentally,” she said.
“Wildlife photography requires lots of patience and deep knowledge of the behaviour of different animals knowing where to find them, what time of day and year. Sometimes a shoot can be a full day with no results. But I find the rewards are huge when you get ‘the shot’. My selected photo was not too difficult given that Thor was there in the open unbothered by people passing by. It was hard navigating the people, but as a subject, he was perfect to photograph.”
Does Rosie have a favourite animal for her work? “No. I get a thrill from photographing large wildlife that isn’t necessarily native to this country and get excited photographing the smallest of things like the frogs in my garden here in Leeds. Where better?”