Nine-year-old wins an award in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition
Shreyovi Mehta’s win made her the youngest Indian in history to receive this recognition
A morning stroll through the Keoladev National Park in Bharatpur, India, turned out to be a life changing moment for nine-year-old Shreyovi Mehta. A class five student from Faridabad, India, Mehta was awarded the runner-up title in the ’10 Years and Under’ category of the 60th edition of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
The competition, recognised by the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, had submissions come in from nearly 60,000 people from 117 countries and territories, reports said.
Mehta’s photo titled ‘In the Spotlight’, features silhouettes of two peahens under a canopy in the Keoladev National Park in Bharatpur, India. Mehta shared her joy and surprise on winning this award in a post on her Instagram account.
“My heart is filled with immense joy and gratitude,” she said. The fifth grader went on to thank her parents in the post saying, “Thank you Mum and Dad. My parents have always supported me in chasing my dreams, even when they seemed too big for a kid like me. Your love and encouragement have been my greatest strength.”
Mehta continued to thank her photography teachers in the post and thanked other parents, saying, “Last but not the least, to all the parents out there, thank you for encouraging your daughters to explore their dreams. It’s the best gift you can give us. Because when you let us dream big, there’s no limit to what we can achieve!”
In an interview with Indian news agency, Press Trust of India, Mehta said, “I am glad that my image of our national bird has been given recognition by Natural History Museum at the biggest stage of wildlife photography. I will continue to practice so that one day even our national animal – the tiger gets the same recognition.”
In a recent post on her social media, Mehta shared her disbelief when she received a video message from her favourite wildlife photographer, congratulating her. It said, “Thank you Suyash uncle. I hope to learn a lot from you about tigers and my fav park Bandhavgarh!”
According to reports, Mehta will receive the award for her photograph in London in October this year. The NHM will also display images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in an exhibition in London, which is said to run from October 2024 to June 2025.