A special honor for Stefan Gerrits from Sambeek: a nature photo of him can now be seen in the Natural History Museum in London. The photo is one of a hundred snapshots on display during the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 exhibition. “I couldn’t believe it.”
The image shows Norwegian storm petrels at Skógafoss, a waterfall in southern Iceland. At the time he took the photo, he didn’t realize how well it turned out: “When I looked back at it, I thought: what actually happened here.”
Stefan tells his story over the telephone from Finland. He stayed in the country as a student and emigrated in 1998. Finland is now his home port, but he still regularly visits his parents in Boxmeer.
According to him, the power of his photo lies in the correct interplay of lines. There is sun in the photo and the ‘white spray’ is, as it were, the shower of the waterfall that falls like a curtain for the birds. “Most people won’t see the lines, they just find it attractive to look at,” Stefan explains.
The photo tells the story of the impact of tourism on the decline of the Norwegian petrel. “On the one hand, tourism is good for employment, but it also has a dark side. That is the dark, dark image in the photo: the decline of the animal.”
Honorable mention
His photo The Legends of the Falls received an honorable mention in the nature photo competition Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025. That is why his sculpture is one of the works that have been on display in the Natural History Museum in London since last Tuesday. A photographer from South Africa is the overall winner of the competition.
According to the native of Sambek, the assessment is a crowning achievement for his work. “This is actually the most prestigious photo competition in the world when it comes to nature. It’s like the Oscars,” says Stefan. This year he is the only Dutchman to fall into one of the prize-winning categories.
When he received the email with the good news, he was thrilled. “At first you can’t believe it. It is spam? I still thought it was one of my photography friends playing a joke. It’s really great.”
Have won prizes many times
About fifteen years ago, Stefan decided to capture nature on film for the first time. With success, because his photos regularly won prizes during that time. He photographs snowshoe hares and ptarmigan, among other things. He also does this with groups, because in addition to his current job, Stefan organizes photography trips for Dutch people to discover Finland. Then he literally goes through all kinds of weather for the perfect picture.
For example, last year he went out with his group to spot the Great Gray Owl. It was minus 34 degrees and the heating stopped working in one of the cars. “Then there were six of us in my car. But the windows fogged up and then immediately froze. It’s not fun at the time, but when you’re home and you have the photo of the owl, those are spectacular things.”
