Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026, overall winner is the Italian Federico Veronesi

Born in Milan in 1975, he won the most prestigious nature photography award in the world promoted by the Natural History Museum in London. His black and white shot, The Aftermath, captures an elephant carrying the lifeless body of her calf across a dry river. “This photograph says it all,” comments jury president Kathy Moran. "On an emotional level it's a punch in the stomach, a heartbreaking emotion"

Federico Veronesi is the overall winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026. His shot won the prize of the most prestigious nature photography competition in the world promoted by the Natural History Museum in London. It's called The Aftermath: in black and white, an elephant carries the lifeless body of her calf across a dry river. A photograph full of pathos that "on an emotional level is a punch in the stomach, a heartbreaking emotion", as commented by the jury president Kathy Moran. "On an intellectual level it is proof that animals possess cognitive abilities. This photograph says it all!".

The shot

Federico Veronesi, an Italian nature photographer born in 1975, took the shot in the Huab river valley, in Namibia. He was following elephant tracks when he came across some unusual drag marks in the sand: the elephant had made them, and the photographer then immortalized her carrying the cub's body between her trunk and tusk. Veronesi's talent does not arise from nothing: the photographer comes from a Milanese family of passionate photographers and naturalists. From an early age he developed a passion for African wildlife and photography. After completing his university studies, in 2002 he moved to Kenya and became a professional nature photographer and safari guide.

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Passion for elephants

Elephants, like the protagonists of the winning shot of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026, are his main subjects. He dedicated an entire photographic book to them, Walk the Earth, which he himself defines as "a journey into the world of African elephants in search of the last large elephants with impressive tusks". The work lasted five years but the images collected in the book date back to 2010.

In-depth analysis

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Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026

The Italian won the overall Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in an edition, that of 2026, which recorded a record number of nominations, with over 65 thousand shots from 121 countries and territories. The finalist photos were evaluated by an international jury of photography, cinema, science and conservation experts, assessing their creativity, originality, technical excellence and ability to tell stories linked to the natural world.