A decade of patience captured in one haunting frame of a brown hyena
In short: Wim van den Heever spent ten years pursuing the perfect shot of a brown hyena. This award-winning image captures the animal wandering through an abandoned diamond mining town, shrouded in Atlantic sea fog.
The image, titled Ghost town visitor, earned the Grand Title at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 competition. Van den Heever strategically placed a camera trap in the ghost town after identifying hyena tracks in the area, resulting in a composition he considers the most perfect frame imaginable.
The Natural History Museum in London hosts the exhibition featuring this work. The museum manages a collection of over 80 million items, ranging from dinosaur remains to meteorites, using photography to highlight the pressures facing our planet and to foster a deeper appreciation for the natural world.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 | Ghost town visitor by Wim van den Heever (Audio described)
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