Winners of Drusillas Animal Photographer of the Year 2021 Announced

PUBLISHED 27/09/21

Drusillas are delighted to announce the winners of their annual Animal Photographer of the Year Competition for 2021.

Some 450 entries were received through August and September, which were whittled down to just six entries for each of the three categories. The winners were decided by a public vote on Drusillas' Facebook page between 20-24 September. Almost 3,000 votes were cast and each of our winners will receive a family ticket for four to the Park!

Animal Photographer of the Year - Violet Burgess - 'I've Got You'

null

Our Animal Photographer of the Year category was open to all ages, accepting photos of any of our animals, on any device. Violet's submission, shot on a Canon 200D, was chosen among our six finalists for the category and received 459 public votes.

Deputy Managing Director, Cassie Poland, commented: "When we saw Violet's photo it was an instant and unanimous decision to include it in our finalists. There's something really touching about the moment she has captured, and the composition is just beautiful. There's something in the message 'I've got you' that I think we all need to hear at the moment too."

Mobile Photographer of the Year - Jamie Stewart-Brown - 'Standing Sentry'

null

Our new category for 2021 - Mobile Photographer of the Year - was open to all ages but must have been shot on a mobile device. Jamie's entry, shot on an iPhone 12, gained the most public votes by a long way in the category, and it's easy to see why it was such a popular choice.

Jamie Stewart-Brown spoke about her entry: “I’m thrilled to have been voted as the winner! After visiting Drusillas for the first time with my husband and son back in August, I started following them on Instagram which is where I saw the competition. I submitted my entry (you have to be in it to win it, right?!) and received an email to say my photo had been shortlisted. There were some fabulous entries and tough competition, so I was shocked to have won! I’ll be sure to stop by the meerkats on our next visit and thank them for being the perfect subject.”

Fledgling Photographer of the Year - Olly Nea - 'Sleepy Fennec'

Our Fledgling Photographer of the Year category accepted entries from children 12 years and under, and opened up the competition to our youngest fans. The standard was extraordinarily high for the age group, and just proves that there's no minimum age to have a creative eye!

Our winner, 11 year old Olly Nea, took this marvellous shot of our sleepy fennec fox on a Canon camera and we were instantly impressed.

We asked Olly Nea what he thought about winning the competition: “I can’t believe I’ve actually won. I was at Drusillas for the day with my uncle to take photos of the squirrel monkeys, red pandas and lemurs. I entered a few photos but didn’t think I’d win. I would like to be a zoo keeper for monkeys. I enjoy taking photos of animals and got a camera for my birthday a couple of years ago. I’m learning how to use it!”