Visual guide to Wildlife Photographer of the Year

It’s best to buy your ticket in advance because you won’t be able to buy a ticket on the day if the exhibition is full.

Moving through the exhibition

The exhibition space is a series of four large rooms and two smaller, darker film rooms.

You do not have to follow a specific route through the exhibition.

Many visitors start with the categories featuring the young photographers. These are on your left as you enter.

You can move through the exhibition at your own pace.

If you want to skip any parts of the exhibition, you can just pass through to the next room.

The rooms are carpeted with even flooring.

All of the exhibition is on one level with no steps.

Getting help

If you need help at any point, go back to the exhibition entrance.

You can ask a staff member behind the welcome desk for help. They’ll be wearing a purple jacket or top.

Large print guides

Large print guides are available in the entry space. They’re on the wall opposite the film screen.

Content warning

The images in this exhibition tell powerful and sometimes challenging stories about the natural world.

Some of the images show animals being harmed.

Most of these images are in Room 3. If you want to avoid them, you can go straight through this room to Room 4.

Sound

There is atmospheric, ambient sound throughout the exhibition at an even volume.

Each room features a different soundscape representing different ecosystems.

There are no hearing loops in the main exhibition or film rooms.

During peak times, the space can be quite loud because there are a lot of visitors.

For a quieter, calmer and less crowded visit, we run relaxed exhibition viewings.

Lighting

The exhibition has medium light levels to help you see where you’re going.

The photos are backlit by light boxes.

This is to make them easy to see.

The film rooms are much darker than the other rooms.

All other rooms have roughly equal lighting throughout.

The films on screens include some flashing lights. For example, the scene might change from a light setting to a dark setting.

There are some text animations that appear on the screen then disappear.

There are no flashing lights in the rest of the exhibition.

Touch

Please do not touch the images or the text underneath.

In the People’s Choice section, you can touch the computer screen to vote for your favourite image.

You can see some of the Museum’s architecture on the columns in Rooms 2, 3 and 4.

You can touch the extinct animals featured in the architecture.

Seating

There are benches to sit on in Room 3, which features the People’s Choice table.

The benches are by the windows.

They’re simple wooden benches and do not have cushioning.

Some of the benches have a backrest and armrests at either end.

Some of the benches have armrests but don’t have a backrest.

You can sit around the People’s Choice table while you vote for your favourite image.

There’s also space around the People’s Choice table for wheelchair users.

You can sit in the film rooms while you watch the films.

There’s space for wheelchair users in the film rooms.

Exhibition journey

Ticket desk

The ticket desk is in the small corridor leading into the exhibition. It is opposite a set of glass cases.

Our staff wear purple jackets or tops.

If you’ve already bought a ticket, they’ll scan it and let you in. 

If you don’t have a ticket yet, you can buy one at the desk. If the exhibition is full, you’ll need to buy a ticket for a different time slot.

Entry space

After you pass the ticket desk, you’ll go through a set of open doors.

You’ll enter a small alcove with the title ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ in front of you.

To the right is a small TV screen with no sound. The screen is showing behind-the-scenes footage of the featured photographers.

Large print guides are available.

You’ll find them on the wall opposite the film screen.

You’re welcome to take one and leave it behind when you’ve finished in the exhibition.

You can start to hear the soundscapes from the exhibition in this area.

Room 1: Biodiversity Intactness Index table room

When leaving the entry space, you’ll go through a short corridor into a larger room to your left.

In front of you in the middle of the room is the round Biodiversity Intactness Index table. You can move around this.

In this section, lighting is medium during the daytime and low once the sun has set.

You can hear one of the soundscapes playing lightly in the background.

Room 2

Turn back on yourself towards the way you came into Room 1.

As you go back through the very short corridor, you’ll arrive in Room 2.

There is a pillar in the middle of this room. However, there is space for wheelchair or pushchair users to move around it.

The light levels in this space are medium.

You’ll be able to hear another of the soundscapes playing in the background.

When it’s busy, this space can be loud and difficult to move around.

Room 3: People’s Choice room

Leave Room 2 under a wooden archway to enter Room 3.

Here you can hear the third of the soundscapes playing softly.

In the middle of the room is a large, round table with three screens on it.

Two of the screens have seating in front of them.

The third screen is for people using wheelchairs and pushchairs.

The wooden seating has a backrest but no armrests or cushions.

There are four pillars in the room surrounding the People’s Choice table.

There is further seating to the far left of the room by the windows.

They are simple benches.

They all have armrests.

Some have a backrest but no cushioning.

Others have no backrests and no cushioning.

When it’s light outside, this room has medium light levels.

When it’s dark outside, the light levels are low.

Film Room 1: Impact Award

You can access the first film room from Room 3.

You’ll find seating to the right-hand side of this small room.

There’s a two-seat couch and a single seat with armrests on either side.

The seats are cushioned.

The lighting in the film room is very low.

The insulated walls absorb sound coming from the speakers above you. This means that the sound isn’t too intense, and that the sound from the outside is muted.

There are captions throughout the films.

There is no hearing loop in the film room.

Room 4: Final room

Leave Room 3 under a wooden archway to enter Room 4.

This room is much smaller than the others and oddly shaped.

There’s one pillar in the middle and another pillar to the left.

The lighting levels in the room are medium.

There is another soundscape playing softly.

To the left of the room are the two Grand Title Winner images.

Film Room 2: Grand Title Winner films

If you’re in front of the Grand Title Winner images, to your left is the second film room.

The film room has seating.

There’s a four-seat couch, a two-seat couch and a single-seat chair with armrests.

The seats are cushioned.

The light levels are low in this room with a bright TV screen in front of you.

The volume of the films’ audio is medium.

There are captions throughout the films.

There is no hearing loop in the film room.

The insulated walls absorb sound coming from the speakers above you. This means that the sound isn’t too intense, and that the sound from the outside is muted.

Leaving the exhibition

If you pass the Grand Title Winner images and turn to the right, you’ll reach the exit of the exhibition.

When you leave the exhibition, you’ll enter the gift shop.

You cannot go back into the exhibition once you’ve left.

Go back to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition page.