BigPicture: Natural World Photography features 48 images taken by award-winning nature, wildlife and conservation photographers from 17 countries. The photographs were selected from more than 7,000 submissions. Photographers were encouraged to present the diversity of nature in unexpected and innovative ways. The photos also serve as a reminder of the importance of protecting and conserving the natural world.
“This powerful exhibition is much more than a gallery — it’s a call to awareness, a celebration of life on Earth and a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for it,” says Catherine Wilson Horne, president and CEO of Discovery Place.
The exhibit runs through May 2 and is free with museum admission. SP
Underwater Harmony And Chaos/Franco Banfi. Photographed at Shetland Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom. Winner of the Winged Life category in the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
The Forest Of The Monarchs/Jaime Rojo. Photographed at Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Michoacán, Mexico. Grand prize winner of the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
Beauty Of Thar Desert/Hema Palan. Photographed at Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India. Winner of the Terrestrial Wildlife category in the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
In Celebration/Geo Cloete. Photographed at Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Winner of the Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora category in the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
Good Fire/Maddy Rifka. Photographed at Yurok Ancestral Lands, Humboldt County, California. Winner of the Human/Nature category in the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
Tadpole Migration/Shane Gross. Photographed at Vancouver Island, Canada. Winner of the Aquatic Life category in the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
Ghosts Of The North/Peter Mather. Photographed at Alaska, United Stats & Northern Canada. Winner of the Photo Story: Unusual Perspectives category in the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
Featured image: Stardust Forest/Kazuaki Koseki. Photographed at Yamagata City, Japan. Winner of the Art of Nature category in the California Academy of Sciences 11th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition—on exhibit at Discovery Place Science in Charlotte through May 2, 2026.
