Carmel Bechler's Image

Carmel Bechler (Israel) discovered several barn owls in an abandoned, concrete building near a busy road.

Returning to where he’d spotted a barn owl the previous year, Carmel and his father used the family car as a hiding spot. He made the most of the natural light and used long exposure times to capture the light trails of passing traffic.

Kathy Moran, Editor and Chair of the Jury, notes how ‘this photograph has so many layers in terms of content and composition. The eye travels across the road, through traffic before spotting the owls. It simultaneously screams habitat destruction and adaptation, begging the question: if wildlife can adapt to our environment, why can’t we respect theirs?’

Israel has the densest barn owl population in the world. A national project has provided nesting boxes near agricultural fields, encouraging owls to nest near farmland. An initiative that’s proved mutually beneficial and led to the reduced the use of rodenticides, as the owls hunt rodents that eat seeds and crops.