Falmouth graduate nominated for Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award
04 February 2026
A photograph of a female cellar spider, taken by recent BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History Photography graduate Thomas Hunt, has been nominated for the prestigious 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award.
Taken whilst he was still a student as part of his final major project, the photograph was captured after Thomas found the spider in his home carrying a sac of 30 eggs. Now, the image has become one of just 24 nominees vying for the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice, an award that annually attracts more than 60,000 entrants globally.
We chatted with Thomas to learn more about being recognised in such a prestigious competition, what has drawn him towards macro photography and why he felt “lucky to have studied in Falmouth”.
How does it feel to be nominated for such an exciting award?
I feel like making it into Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice is probably every wildlife photographer's dream, so it is quite literally a dream come true. It was such an amazing experience to attend the awards ceremony in the Natural History Museum with so many other amazing photographers. Having our meal and sitting underneath the blue whale skeleton ‘Hope’, it was all quite surreal, and I still can't quite believe that it happened.
What drew you towards capturing this female cellar spider and making it your entry?
I really enjoy macro photography as it shows us the details that we wouldn’t usually notice and the beauty of invertebrates that people usually ignore or fear. My sister found this cellar spider climbing on her wall and she asked me to move it elsewhere. Whilst I was relocating it, I realised that it was carrying something in its mouth. That something happened to be an egg sac filled with 30 or so eggs. After realising I rushed to go grab my camera and proceeded to take thousands of pictures of it.
I decided to enter it because it showed an interesting behaviour of a common animal found in almost everyone's homes. It was something that, even as a macro photographer, I hadn't paid much attention to until I saw it up close. It just goes to show that you don't have to travel far to find cool and interesting things for macro photography.
Did your time studying Falmouth’s BA(Hons) Marine and Natural History Photography course help you in any way to create the photograph you are nominated for?
This image was taken as part of my final year major project which focussed on cellar spiders. Through lots of fascinating discussions with one of my lecturers, Dr Tim Cockerill, who has a particular interest in invertebrates, it encouraged me to focus more on the behaviour of my subjects to make my macro images more interesting. Though just one image out of a series of behavioural photographs of cellar spiders, this is my favourite.
How did you find your time studying at Falmouth and building your photography skills?
I really enjoyed having the dedicated time to focus on and develop my photographic skills and to try out different techniques and equipment. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to practice underwater photography after having completed my PADI diver qualifications. I feel lucky to have studied in Falmouth, a location surrounded by the sea and nature, which gave me lots of inspiration and opportunities to follow my passion.
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