Although creepy crawlies may not be loved by everyone (certainly not by me), they do know how to pose for a photograph — as proven by the inaugural Luminar Bug Photography Awards.
Mofeed Abu Shalwa from Saudi Arabia won the title ‘Luminar Bug Photographer of the Year 2020’, thanks to his image of the intimidating red palm weevil.
The UK’s Jamie Spensley won the ‘Young Bug Photographer’ title for his Carder Bee.
Mofeed began photographing invertebrates as a way of overcoming his phobia of insects — a fear, it seems, he has comfortably beaten. 17-year-old Jamie, meanwhile, hails from Solihull and is in his second year at college studying creative media. They took home £4,500 and £1,200 worth of prizes, respectively.
More than 5,000 images were submitted from around the world and there were many worthy category winners, such as Christian Brockes’s photograph of an acorn weevil, titled 3... 2... 1... Take Off!, which won the Beetles category.
Peter Orr’s Three Mayfly on Crested Dogstail — pictured at the top of the page — took home the prize in the Flies, Bees, Wasps and Dragonflies section.
The competition was launched as a way of celebrating invertebrate photography, as well as raising awareness of the plight of so many invertebrate species. The awards raised funds for the Buglife charity and the judging panel included Germaine Greer, president of Buglife, naturalist Nick Baker and photographer Levon Biss.
To see the winners, runners-up and highly commended entries, visit the website at www.photocrowd.com.
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