Sheffield artist wins grand prize in international photography competition

Grand prize winning artist and Sheffield local, Kathryn Cooper

The jury, chaired by wildlife photographers Stephanie and David Allemand awarded 10 images out of over 4000 entries from all over the world as part of the French Bird and Nature Festival.

Kathryn had two further images exhibited as part of the festival.

Her work uses a technique similar to long exposure to capture the fluid-like motion of flocks of starlings.

The winning image, entitled "Funnel" captures the flock as it swirls, twists and turns, forming shapes like funnels and tornadoes as the birds seek a suitable spot to land.

The winning image was taken at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Potteric Carr in Doncaster, where tens or even hundreds of thousands of starlings gather over winter.

The spectacle, known as a murmuration, intensifies when the birds form a coherent 3D “cloud” that appears move as one, twisting and contorting into various shapes.

Kathryn said: “I am delighted to be recognised internationally.

"This is a competition that I am proud to be part of.

"It is really important to me that I create my work locally so to see both art and wildlife from Yorkshire and Derbyshire exhibited on a world stage is wonderful”.

You can see more of Kathryn’s work at KathrynCooperWildlife.com

Kathryn has a large exhibition coming up in Montreal running from June for one year.