Head On Photo Festival People's Choice Winner

28 May 2020

The votes are in, and the People’s Choice for the most popular exhibition of the 2020 Head On Photo Festival has been revealed as Sanctuary by Ian Bickerstaff. Taking top honours against over 110 other online exhibitions, created over a 10-year-period, Bickerstaff’s work tells the story a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in Cameroon that provides a safe home in captivity for several hundred primates taken from the wild by illegal hunting activities. It captures the relationships between the sanctuary and the wild, and explores the relationships between primates and their human caregivers, the sanctuary and the local people, and people and wildlife.

© Ian Bickerstaff. Chimpanzees can display very flexible facial expressions, and here Little Larry shows an open-mouthed 'play face' whilst he and Daphne wrestle in the forest.
© Ian Bickerstaff. Chimpanzees can display very flexible facial expressions, and here Little Larry shows an open-mouthed 'play face' whilst he and Daphne wrestle in the forest.

Bickerstaff’s prize, valued at $2,848, includes an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III and a M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 II. Brett Leigh Dicks’ exhibition, Nuclear Landscapes, came in second, followed by Inevitable Conflict, work by Kasper Forest.

To check out some of the exhibitions and online discussions, visit the Head On website here.

© Ian Bickerstaff. Daniel arrived at Mefou in 2007 in a very malnourished state and spent several months being rehabilitated before joining a family of similarly aged infant chimps. Today, he is a healthy and relaxed adult resident of Mefou.
© Ian Bickerstaff. Daniel arrived at Mefou in 2007 in a very malnourished state and spent several months being rehabilitated before joining a family of similarly aged infant chimps. Today, he is a healthy and
relaxed adult resident of Mefou.
© Ian Bickerstaff. A rescued chimpanzee on his first day at the sanctuary after being confiscated from a hunter.
© Ian Bickerstaff. A rescued chimpanzee on his first day at the sanctuary after being confiscated from a hunter.
© Ian Bickerstaff. A young female chimpanzee is anaesthetised in order to undergo a health check.
© Ian Bickerstaff. A young female chimpanzee is anaesthetised in order to undergo a health check.
© Ian Bickerstaff. A female gorilla named Ncarla interacting with one of her caregivers, Abdoulaye.
© Ian Bickerstaff. A female gorilla named Ncarla interacting with one of her caregivers, Abdoulaye.
© Ian Bickerstaff. Bobga is a bushmeat orphan who was rescued in 2018 and transferred to Mefou in 2019. Here, he takes a rest in between introductory sessions with his new gorilla family.
© Ian Bickerstaff. Bobga is a bushmeat orphan who was rescued in 2018 and transferred to Mefou in 2019. Here, he takes a rest in between introductory sessions with his new gorilla family.

 

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