Falmouth graduates see their student work recognised at this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards
09 April 2026
The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) is a visual celebration of British wildlife that this year attracted 13,000 entrants, with each participant hoping for their work to find its place in their captivating yearly collection book.
This year two recent BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History Photography graduates, Ben Lindberg and Rhonwen Hardy-Evans, have their student work featured within the 2026 edition. Reflecting on how it felt to be included within the collection, Rhonwen told us: “It’s an honour to be in the book beside so many other amazing photographers.
“The two images of mine included are from my project ‘Hidden Beauty’, which I produced during my final year of university. The project explores the hidden yet weird and wonderful life of anemones that inhabit the rock pools along the coast of Cornwall. My hope with these images was to encourage a closer, more curious engagement with these often-overlooked creatures.”
Ben’s image, also featured within the book, is part of an underwater study on how the ocean influences every breath we take, which was also part of his university project. Having been recognised as one of this year’s Highly Commended photos, we chatted with Ben to learn more the story behind his work.
You’ve been awarded Highly Commended in this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards - congratulations! What does it mean to you to have your work recognised in this way?
It felt absolutely unreal when I was first told that my work was going to be featured in this year’s edition, the BWPA Collection 14 photo book. Then a month or so later I found out that my photo had also been awarded Highly Commended for the Botanical Britain category, which was just even more insane!
Every year I love seeing the array of photos and films that come out of the BWPA and the huge variety of important categories and topics it covers. It just feels crazy to know that one of my images is part of it this year. I haven't managed to get my hands on a copy of the book just yet, but my parents have and it was so special seeing their reaction to seeing one of my images in there. I won't forget that.
The photo you submitted is from your final year project, 'Ocean Lungs'. Can you tell us more about what inspired it and what you wanted the photo to say or what you wanted to capture?
The photo comes from my BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History Photography final year project. 'Ocean Lungs' explored the often unseen but important process of photosynthesis underwater. I wanted to find a way to visualise this, so I went about focusing on the delicate signs of it happening, most often in the form of tiny bubbles. A lot of my time was spent at rock pools, watching strands of kelp, seagrass and other marine plant life, waiting until I spotted those bubbles. From there it became a bit of an experiment, trying different techniques to photograph the representation I was after.
This particular image is one I felt captured it the best. It’s definitely one of my favourites from the project, so to see it recognised in the BWPA makes it all the more special to me.
How did you find your time studying Falmouth’s BA(Hons) Marine & Natural History Photography? What were the highlights and what skills did you gain?
My three years studying BA(Hons) Marine and Natural History Photography were genuinely some of the best I’ve had. The course itself is so unique and filled with incredibly creative, like-minded people, from fellow students to the lecturers and Institute of Photography team.
Before starting at Falmouth, I had limited knowledge of photography, but I always knew I wanted to properly understand it. The lecturers and team on the course put so much time, energy and passion into helping me do exactly that. The course offered so much freedom in experimenting with such a wide range of equipment, which I feel really helped feed my knowledge and love for photography.
I don't think I could have learnt so much in three years without having done this course. It’s nearly been a year since I handed in my final project, and I feel super grateful to be able to look back on that time so fondly.
See one of Ben’s images on the front of our new 2027 undergraduate prospectus.
Image credit: Header image, 'Ocean Lungs' by Ben Lindberg. 'Beadlet Anemone' and 'Strawberry of the Sea' by Rhonwen Hardy-Evans.
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