Wildlife photography already has a way of stopping you in your tracks. Strip away the color, though, and suddenly the story hits different. Shadows become mood, textures become drama, and every stare, wingbeat, and splash feels a little more intense.
The MonoVisions Black and White Photography Awards 2026 bring together photographers from around the world who use monochrome photography to express their unique visual language. The international open call celebrates photographers working exclusively with black and white imagery, with $5,000 in cash prizes awarded across two competition categories.
The Wildlife category is packed with almost cinematic moments. From explosive action in the wild to quiet encounters that could easily go unnoticed, these photographs show how powerful nature can look without a single splash of color.
The 1st Place Winner is Wei Lian from the United States with Perfect Strike, a brilliantly timed photograph capturing a great blue heron catching a trout. The split-second action, crisp detail, and dramatic monochrome treatment turn an ordinary hunting moment into something unforgettable.
Alongside the winner, the 40 selected photographs and honorable mentions reveal wildlife at its rawest wild, unpredictable, graceful, and sometimes downright intense. These aren’t simply pictures of animals. They’re powerful stories told through light, shadow, timing, and instinct.
#1. 1st Place Winner: Perfect Strike by Wei Lian, United States
"A great blue heron catches a trout."
#2. 2nd Place Winner: Grace! by Liwen Tao, United States
"This image was taken at Gould Bay Antarctica. There was a huge emperor penguin colony. Among the thousands of adult and young emperor penguins, I noticed this particular adult penguin. She was right in front me. She was calling and showing different postures. I felt that she was communicating with me and greeting me. The moment she bowed her head to me was so graceful that I was speechless and impressed. I pushed the shutter for the precious moment. Since there are no hunting of wildlife in Antarctica, penguins and other wildlife are not afraid of people. There is harmony between human and animals. The true enemy of emperor penguins is the warm climate. They will suffer from less ice. We must act together to protect them."
#3. 3rd Place Winner: Opportunistic Feeding by Camilo Diaz, Colombia
"During a sardine run, a humpback whale feeds opportunistically among seabirds, sea lions, marlins, and tuna. Although the species usually fasts in breeding areas, an exceptional concentration of prey triggers this rare encounter, where multiple predators converge in a fragile balance."
Honorable Mentions
#4. Kiss of Death by Suliman Alatiqi, Kuwait
"Closeup of cuttlefish mating. During mating, the male attaches its eight arms around the female’s face. With a firm grip, he releases sperm through the female’s mouth and the eggs are fertilized internally. After spawning they will both die."
#5. Ouch! by Janet Gustin, United States
"While siblings nurse below, one kit fox pup demands attention the only way he knows how – by gently biting mom’s nose. The tender chaos of motherhood captured in a single frame. Even in the wild, kids compete for affection, and sometimes getting noticed means being a little bit bold."
#6. Coming Up for Air in Monochrome by Nathan Myhrvold, United States
"A humpback calf and mother swim toward the surface of the water to take a breath. The sun’s rays pierce the surface of the water to shine on the whales, bathing them in light. During the beginning of their life, in the warm waters of Tonga, the calves will learn essential life skills from their mother, like breathing at the surface, and will build up the fat reserves needed for the long migration south to their Antarctic feeding grounds."
#7. Drinking Elephant by Aleksander Myklebust, Norway
"A drinking elephant photographed along the Kazinga River in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda."
#8. Princess of the night by Joyoti Basu, India
"This image was shot at the Shompole Hide in Kenya. After hours of patient waiting, we were rewarded by the appearance of this majestic leopard as she came down to quench her thirst. She fixed her eyes on us giving us an image to remember forever."
#9. Eclipse by Remuna Beca, United States
"A Caribbean reef shark glides above, its silhouette transforming the sun into an underwater eclipse. This moment, captured in the Bahamas, highlights the grace and mystery of a species often misunderstood. Sharks, essential to marine ecosystems, are too often feared rather than revered. By using the interplay of light and shadow, I sought to reframe the narrative—inviting viewers to see beyond the silhouette and into the elegance of these apex predators."
#10. Walking on Liquid Diamonds by Janet Gustin, United States
"Sitting in the tidal shallows, I lowered my lens until it kissed the water’s surface. Through the merged boundary of air and sea, the bear became ethereal — a ghost walking into the fog across an ocean of diamonds. This submerged perspective revealed a hidden world where reality dissolves into light. In nature’s grandest wilderness, even the mightiest creature can seem to walk between worlds — powerful and vulnerable all at once."
#11. Spooky Spotted Owlet by Partha Roy, Singapore
"Captured during the first light of dawn in the rural Hooghly village region of West Bengal, India, this photograph portrays two Spotted Owlets resting silently upon the textured remains of an old tree trunk. The early morning atmosphere carried a deep stillness, where darkness had not yet fully surrendered to daylight, allowing these elusive nocturnal birds to remain active for a fleeting moment before retreating into concealment."
#12. The Unseen Within by Leszek Hus, Poland
"Almost nothing — and yet, enough. A hare concealed within tall grasses, nearly invisible to the eye, captured in a moment of alert stillness. An eye emerges from the indistinct, suspended between revelation and disappearance. The body dissolves into texture; the world absorbs its own subject. What remains is not the animal itself, but the trace of its presence — fragile, momentary, unresolved. The minimalist composition and restrained tonal range emphasize the tension between presence and concealment — a defining aspect of life in the wild."
#13. Trouble in the herd of Buffalos by Alex Brackx, Belgium
"I was able to take this picture from a hide in Zimanga, South Africa in September. On that morning a large herd of Buffalos (Syncerus caffer) were approaching the waterhole fast. Some of them were quite calm , others were more in a rush. It was an amazing moment, to be able to see them this close. Then you start to worry a little bit… especially when they start a little fight right in front of you."
#14. Sea Puppy Gaze by Remuna Beca, United States
"With irresistible puppy-like eyes, an Australian sea lion playfully engages with the camera with curiosity in South Australia’s kelp forests. Listed as Endangered, these rare sea lions face threats from habitat loss, fishing bycatch, and pollution. Protecting these gentle-eyed marine icons is vital to preserving ocean biodiversity."
#15. My Hero! by Preeti and Prashant Chacko, India
"Being a mother bear is hard work! The cubs need constant feeding as they need to double in weight every fortnight to have any chance of surviving the winter months. Even if they solve for body weight, multiple other factors mean that bear cub mortality rates are obscenely high. As we tracked this mother bear at Lake Clark National Park, we got some insight into why this could be."
#16. White Silence by Leszek Hus, Poland
"A swan rises from the still surface, its wings unfolding in a gesture that is both powerful and restrained. Surrounded by a muted, almost monochromatic landscape, the subject becomes an exploration of form, balance, and quiet tension. The minimal palette reduces the scene to light, texture, and movement, allowing the elegance of the gesture to emerge. This moment reflects both the grace and awareness inherent in the wild — a presence that is at once delicate and commanding."
#17. Bright Eyes by Deborah Russell, United Kingdom
"The beautiful and illusive caracal seen at dusk looking for dinner in Ndutu, Tanzania."
#18. The Tower by Deborah Russell, United Kingdom
"A tower of giraffes stand alert on the Ndutu lakebed scanning the horizon as a storm approaches."
#19. The Watcher by Deepak Jaybhaye, India
"Suspended between silence and motion, a spotted owlet flies directly toward the camera moments before landing on a weathered branch. The open wings, intense gaze, and surrounding negative space were used to emphasize both grace and predatory focus. Converted to black and white, the image removes distraction and allows attention to rest entirely on form, symmetry, texture, and expression. The minimal composition and stark tonal contrast aim to create a timeless, almost dreamlike encounter between the viewer and a nocturnal hunter."
#20. One Ton by Eric D’Dio, United States
"This iconic elephant is one of the few remaining super tuskers in Africa. During the drought he frequented the Chyulu Hills, relying on its water sources located within the 100 km long volcanic field. At one font we just missed him. Hopeful, we tried another cache within the system he could visit over the next several days."
#21. Curve of a Tail by Laura Dyer, United Kingdom
"A very young cheetah cub, and the beautiful curve of mom’s tail as they rest on a termite mound, both keeping watch in opposite directions. The small cub, ever curious, with a serious face that only cheetah cubs can pull off, alongside mom on the blackened mound. Highly endangered, they seem to know that keeping your eyes open in all directions is very important."
#22. Calm Before the Chew by Dev Kumar, Malaysia
"With eyes gently closed and leaves cradled in his hand, this silverback reveals a face shaped not only by power, but by presence. Deep-set features, weathered skin, and the unmistakable crest of age and leadership speak of a life lived at the heart of the forest. In this fleeting pause before feeding, his expression softens, strength giving way to calm."
#23. Apex — Peregrine Falcon by Yang Mo Lee, United States
"A Peregrine Falcon perches at the edge of the San Pedro cliffs, surveying the Pacific below. Shot in monochrome to emphasize the falcon’s sharp silhouette against the open sky — the stillness before the stoop. Captured along the Southern California coast in June 2023, where a resident pair of Peregrines has nested for several seasons."
#24. Curiosity by Srimanth Srinivasan, United States
"When the bear was first spotted, it was nothing more than a dark speck against the endless Arctic Ocean—just a dot moving steadily through the vastness. The bear was swimming from one remote island to another, driven by instinct, scavenging for the next meal in a world where survival is never guaranteed."
#25. Accompany by Min Li, Canada
"Two polar bears are huddled together in the snow."
#26. Half Dinosaur, Half Ballerina by Alexandra Surkova, Spain
"I have rarely felt, in my life, that I was standing before something that should not exist. For years, I had dreamed of venturing deep into the Mabamba Swamp in Uganda to find him: the shoebill. A creature so improbable it seems to have stepped out of a book of prehistoric beings or out of an evolutionary joke."
#27. Imperial by Fabian Meckl, Germany
"His name was Olobor, he was the leader of the Black Rock Boys coalition that ruled over the Maji ya Fisi and Rongai prides in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. The strongest of the originally five males, he was domineering, maybe even unusually violent, and always seeking to expand his and his brothers’ empire. While we sometimes have conflicted feelings about the savage side of nature, starkly evident in him, in his own way he was how a male lion has to be, how he should be. Until he was killed by man."
#28. Catch! by Jim Guerard, United States
"In a game as old as time, a mother cheetah uses her hind legs to launch her cub into the air in a game of catch. I had followed this mother and cub for a couple of days in the Mara North Conservancy, Kenya as they played, hunted and observed their surroundings. I was so lucky to witness this amazing interaction that lasted for only a couple of seconds and even more blessed to have captured it."
#29. Solo by Lawrence Yumbya, Kenya
"As Giraffes inch closer to the list of potentially endangered species, you begin to appreciate their extremely unique beauty, and this is accentuated even more, when one opts to venture out on its own, brave as that is in the wild."
#30. White Arctic Fox in headwind by Jacki Gordon, United Kingdom
"This was taken on a brutally cold day in Svalbard. The wind was ferocious and the visibility was pretty awful. Despite the odds, and just as we decided it was time to call it a day and return to our accommodation without any photos, we had a sighting of this Arctic Fox. The light was fading but there was no time to screw on a faster lens."
#31. Cubby Luv by Sarfraz Durrani, United States
"Two weeks after their birth, the fox kits began exploring the world outside their den. But, of course, they couldn’t sit still. They constantly had mock fights; they would climb all over each other, bite their siblings’ faces, and jump all over them, right until the mom came back with dinner. I sat at a respectable distance from the den and waited for hours in the cold till they started coming out. Once they were out, time just flew by as they never failed to entertain."
#32. The Wonderer by Fabian Meckl, Germany
"Beneath the trees that shroud the Sabie River, one of the three Mazithi/Tshokwane males pauses their patrol, gazing into the canopy as if lost in thought. I cannot help but wonder: what goes through his mind?"
#33. Eyes raised high by Laura Dyer, United Kingdom
"A small huddle of cheetah, distracted by an overhead bird in one of the East African storms, raises their eyes heavenward. These very endangered cats are always on alert, especially when the cubs are very small. It was cold, and the constant rain was making the small youngsters shiver, which is why one had climbed onto mom for warmth while the others suckled for comfort. Masai Mara, kenya"
#34. Shake it Off! by Markus Sladek, Austria
"I am an ambitious SemiPro Photographer and Designer based in Vienna, Austria. My greatest Photographic Passion is the Animal Photography."
#35. Your Majesties by Deborah Russell, United Kingdom
"An intimate expression in a powerful pose from these two handsome male lions from Team Tano coalition who have a strong brotherly bond. In their prime with beautiful wind swept full manes. To convey their true majesty, I got as low as possible to put them centre against the big dramatic skies of the Serengeti."
#36. Misty Rivals by Samir Kamat, United States
"Photographed in the early morning hours at Chinitna Bay, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska, this image captures two sub-adult brown bears engaged in playful sparring as they wait for the salmon run to begin. A dense marine fog had settled over the tidal flats, dissolving the horizon and reducing the world to a single luminous field of grey — the perfect, unplanned backdrop for a minimalist composition."
#37. Elder by Cliff Spooner, United Kingdom
"Photographed at close range at a wildlife park, this male gelada baboon met the camera with a stillness that stopped the moment cold. The gelada — endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands and among the most socially complex of all primates — carries in its face something that resists easy categorisation as animal."
#38. Forest by Sihang Chen, China
"The intricate interweaving of forest foliage textures with water surface reflections creates a unique visual rhythm where reality and illusion coexist harmoniously."
#39. Hiding by David Oldham, United Kingdom
"The first time I had ever seen an elusive Iberian lynx, I briefly saw it catch a rabbit and disappear off into the bushes to eat it. After she had finished her meal she briefly sat up and by focussing manually I was able to catch this photo which for me highlights the secretive nature of this rare but very beautiful mammal"
#40. Quiet Bond by Andrea Rosin, Germany
"I was fortunate to observe a chimpanzee mother holding her infant closely in the forest of Gombe. The young chimp clings to her and nurses in a moment of quiet care and security, revealing the strong bond between them. The image is, for me, closely connected to the pioneering work of Jane Goodall in Gombe and is marked by deep respect for her lifelong work and her groundbreaking observations of chimpanzees in the wild."
Frequently Asked Questions:
What are the MonoVisions Black and White Photography Awards?
The MonoVisions Black and White Photography Awards are an international open call celebrating photographers who use monochrome photography as their primary visual language. The competition recognizes outstanding black and white imagery across multiple photographic categories worldwide.
Who won first place in the Wildlife category in 2026?
Wei Lian from the United States won first place in the Wildlife category at the MonoVisions Black and White Photography Awards 2026. His winning photograph, Perfect Strike, captures a great blue heron catching a trout.
What is the photograph Perfect Strike about?
Perfect Strike by Wei Lian captures a great blue heron successfully catching a trout. The photograph freezes a fast wildlife encounter at precisely the right moment, using monochrome tones to emphasize the bird, movement, water, and dramatic action.
Why is black and white effective for wildlife photography?
Black and white photography can emphasize shapes, textures, contrast, light, and emotion without the distraction of color. In wildlife images, monochrome treatment can make animal expressions, movement, silhouettes, feathers, fur, and natural environments especially striking.
What do the MonoVisions Photography Awards aim to achieve?
The MonoVisions Photography Awards aim to discover talented monochrome photographers worldwide and give their work a chance to gain recognition. The 2026 competition offered $5,000 in cash prizes across two major competition categories.
