Federico Veronesi’s The Aftermath Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026

Federico Veronesi won Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 with The Aftermath. The black-and-white photograph shows a female elephant carrying a dead calf in Namibia. London’s Natural History Museum announced the result on 13 October 2026, after the jury judged a record 65,403 entries.

Oscar Whitfield, a young British photographer living in Zimbabwe, won the Young title with a dung beetle picture. Both overall winners are black-and-white images, a first in the competition’s 62-year history, according to the museum. Our earlier WPY 2026 preview covers the dates and entry rules.

Both grand title winners shot full-frame mirrorless bodies: the Nikon Z8 for Veronesi and the Canon EOS R6 Mark II for Whitfield.

Veronesi, who moved from Italy to Kenya in 2002 and now leads photographic safaris, was tracking elephants. He found unusual drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed in the Huab River Valley. The source became clear when he caught up with a family group. Then a female emerged with the calf, its leg wedged between her tusk and trunk.

The museum notes death-related behaviors in both Asian and African elephants, including vocalizations, guarding the dead and carrying the deceased. Some researchers suggest these actions mark an elephant’s journey to understanding death, while others read them as possible displays of grief.

Jury chair Kathy Moran called the image a gut punch and heartbreakingly poignant. She also described it as proof of animal cognition. So the frame works as both emotion and evidence. Veronesi also won the Behaviour: Mammals category.

Whatever the subject, keep a safe distance from large animals before you raise the lens. Our guide to wildlife photography safe distance explains what to do when an animal closes the gap.

Whitfield won with Labour of Love, which shows a dung beetle pushing its precious cargo. He lay flat on the ground to shoot at eye level, using a fast shutter speed and high light sensitivity. Sun and heat raised dry dust all around him.

Jury member Jasper Doest said a small, constantly moving subject is hard to photograph, yet the image feels intentional. He added the composition reveals an entire story.

The museum also stresses the beetle’s role. More than 5,000 dung beetle species exist, and burying dung prevents the conditions required for methane production. It also helps dung decompose faster.

The museum lists camera details with each image in its online gallery. This table sets the two grand title winners side by side.

The settings show two approaches. Veronesi shot wide open at f/2.8 on a 400mm lens, while Whitfield used a 150-600mm zoom. Because f/6.3 sits at the slow end of the zoom’s f/5-6.3 range, the high ISO of 3200 likely helped Whitfield hold 1/1250 s.

In contrast, Veronesi kept ISO at 72 and relied on the f/2.8 aperture for light. If you are weighing his camera, our Nikon Z8 deal report covers the recent Amazon price.

The next competition opens at 10:30 GMT (11:30 UK time) on Monday 19 October 2026 and closes at 11:30 GMT on Thursday 3 December. Adults pay £35 for up to 25 images. Entrants aged 18 to 26 submit up to 25 images free, and those aged 17 and under submit up to 10 free.

Read the rules first. Photos must come from after October 2021, and you submit JPEGs in Adobe RGB at 1920 pixels on the longest side. Shortlisted entries then need RAW files or untouched original JPEGs for authentication. The rules also bar AI-generated images and composites.

My advice: pick your strongest frames this week, check each one against the editing limits and zoom to full size to confirm sharp focus on the key detail. Both winners used shutter speeds of 1/1000 s or faster, so use the table above as a benchmark. In my view, the two winners show how much subject knowledge and field time matter, so read our guide to patience over gear in wildlife photography.

Since shortlisted entries need original files, keep a second copy of every frame you plan to enter, stored away from your editing computer. These three portable SSDs suit RAW backups.

For me, the winning frame earns its title. It asks a hard question about grief and answers in quiet black and white. Whitfield’s beetle picture does similar work at a much smaller scale.

Neither winner used an exotic camera body. Instead, both put in real field effort: Veronesi tracked elephants across a dry riverbed, and Whitfield lay flat on the ground in the heat and dust. Use the weeks before 3 December to sort your originals, and treat the WPY 2026 winners as your standard for the next entry.

He was born in Italy and moved to Kenya in 2002 to live among the animals of the savannah. Today he works as a wildlife photographer whose images have been published in books and magazines, and he leads photographic safaris across sub-Saharan Africa.

He used a Nikon Z8 with a 400mm f/2.8 lens. According to the museum, the exposure was 1/1000 s at f/2.8 and ISO 72.

Yes, Veronesi also won Behaviour: Mammals. Other winners include Aaron Sanders (UK) for Animal Portraits, Isak Pretorius (South Africa) for Behaviour: Birds, Tony Wu (Japan/USA) for Underwater and Seth Forestson (USA) for Urban Wildlife. You will find every category winner in the museum’s press release.

The exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum in London on Friday 16 October 2026 and runs to Sunday 11 July 2027. Adult tickets start at £17 off-peak and £19 on standard days, and the museum says weekends sell out quickly.

Entries open at 10:30 GMT (11:30 UK time) on Monday 19 October 2026 and close at 11:30 GMT on Thursday 3 December 2026. Adult entrants pay £35 for up to 25 images, and the museum has full details on its entry page.

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