Aishwarya Sridhar 1st Indian woman to win Wildlife Photographer of the Year award

This year, Aishwarya Sridhar became the first Indian woman to win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award. Her photo won among 50,000 entries from over 80 countries across the world. Only 100 images were shortlisted and she won the award for her photograph in the Behaviour Invertebrates category. This is the 56th year of the prestigious award.

The announcement was made on October 13 at the Natural History Museum in London. The image titled 'Lights of Passion' was captured using one of Canon’s premium DSLRs -- EOS-1DX Mark II. Aishwarya took to Twitter and wrote that it's a big moment for India and for her as a young wildlife photographer. "Being the first and youngest girl to win this award from India in the Adult category, its a huge honour for me to receive this award," she added. Sridhar then thanked the entire jury and WPY team.

'A big moment for India'

As soon as Aishwarya's tweet was up, netizens rushed to congratulate the winner. A user wrote, "Simply wow! More power to your eye for detail and the amazing behind the lens prowess. Shine on! God bless". Another comment read, "Amazing picture & congratulations to you for breaking this glass ceiling in this very tough, male dominated field !! It’s wonderful to have this example of #NariShakti on the occasion of #Navratri". 

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A video that surfaced on the internet gave a glimpse of what Aishwarya had to say about herself at the event. "Hi I am Aishwarya Sridhar and I'm a wildlife photographer and  storyteller from the incredible land of India. I live in Mumbai and I've been doing wildlife photography for the last seven years now. I love to explore the untamed places, the wild places in India. It's been an enriching journey so far. Photography is an art form that lives across borders and beyond barriers. It's an emotive art form that helps highlight global issues and photographs can create talking points globally," she said. 

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In 2019, Aishwarya received the Diana Award. She took to Twitter and wrote, "It's such an honour to receive The prestigious @DianaAward 2019 for being a green warrior. Thank you for this honour." Meanwhile, Aishwarya is also a writer and filmmaker by profession.

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