Key Points :
- Aishwarya Sridhar’s photo titled ‘Lights of Passion’ has bagged the ‘Highly Commended’ award at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020.
- Sridhar’s photo is a picture of a tree lit up with fireflies. The fireflies and stars in the sky form a hypnagogic galaxy around the tree.
- The winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020 were announced on October 13.
The winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020 were announced on October 13.Aishwarya Sridhar’s photo titled ‘Lights of Passion’ has bagged the ‘Highly Commended’ award at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020. The 23-year-old has become the first Indian to be awarded with the coveted award.
Sridhar’s photo is a picture of a tree lit up with fireflies. The fireflies and stars in the sky form a hypnagogic galaxy around the tree. It won under the Behaviour-Invertebrates category.The invertebrate category consisted stills revealing the most interesting or memorable behaviour of any of the throng of smaller animals without a backbone, whether on land, in the air or in water.
Sridhar, a wildlife photographer from Panvel, clicked the photo during a trek trip in Bhandardara in June last year. The photo will be put on display from October 16.
National History Museum, the organiser of the competition described the picture as,””After two hours of hiking, she found a tree dusted in gold from the bioluminescence of thousands of fireflies. Shooting 27 images over a 24-second exposure and combining them using focus stacking software, she highlighted the vibrancy of this scene.”
Aishwarya told Mumbai Mirror,”It was a dream come true when my name was announced at the virtual awards ceremony on Tuesday night.” She added,”During a trek last year, I had decided to click fireflies but hadn’t planned any particular frame,” she said. “It’s a very short two-week window when one can find fireflies in this area.”
However, this is not one of the first accolades which the Panvel based photographer has been awarded with.
Sridhar also won the Sanctuary Asia young naturalist award at the age of 14 and the Princess Diana award given to young talents who bring positive change with their contribution to society.She is also a member of the State Wetland Identification Committee appointed by the Bombay High Court. Her works have been featured in BBC Wildlife, The Guardian, Sanctuary Asia, Saevus, Hindustan Times, Mumbai Mirror, Digital Camera, Mathrubhumi and Mongabay.