Staffan Widstrand (born 1959) is a Swedish photographer and author based in Stockholm, Sweden.[1]

Staffan Widstrand
Born
Carl Staffan Fredrik Widstrand

1959
NationalitySwedish
Occupation(s)Photographer, writer
Years active1981–present
Awards
  • Wildlife Photographer of the Year
  • WWF Sweden Panda book of the Year
  • European Nature Photographer of the Year
  • Nature Photographer of the Year in Sweden
  • De Gouden Wimpel (The Golden Streamer award), The Netherlands
Websitewww.staffanwidstrand.se

Career

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Widstrand was born in Sweden in 1959. Prior to becoming a professional photographer in the mid-1980s, Widstrand worked in the metal industry as well as worked as a nature tour guide. Later, he also served as a reserved officer in the Swedish Armoured Troops Corps.[2] In 1984, he founded his photography company Staffan Widstrand Photography in Järfälla, Stockholm. Between 1984 and 1990, Widstrand worked as a picture editor at Natur & Kultur.[3] He specializes in storytelling about the natural world and nature conservation issues, using writing and wildlife photography. Widstrand's work underlines the sheer joy of our planet's natural heritage as to inspire wide audiences to protect and take better care of it.[4][5] He is a National Geographic Explorer since 2008 and a Sony Imaging Brand Ambassador since 2020.[6][7] Between 1997 and 2020, Widstrand served as a brand ambassador for Nikon. He is also a member of Naturfotograferna [sv], the Swedish nature photographers association.[8]

In 1993, Widstrand co-authored his first book Safari till världens finaste viltområden - Ecotouring: the Ultimate Guide with Magnus Elander. The book was awarded with the Årets Pandabok [sv] (WWF Pandabook of the Year) in the year 1994 by the WWF. Widstrand has authored 20 books in 10 languages and has been awarded with the Årets Pandabok -WWF Sweden prize five times.[9][10]

In 1996, Widstrand was awarded his first Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, staged by the Natural History Museum, London. Since then, he has received Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards 11 times. In 2001, Widstrand was bestowed with the Årets Naturfotograf i Sverige (Swedish Nature Photographer of the Year) title.[11] He has also had five awarded images in the European Nature Photographer of the Year (GDT) awards, since 2003. Outdoor Photographer in 2010 called Widstrand one of the World's 40 Most influential nature photographers.[8]

Widstrand is a Founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) since 2005, and the first Swede to be elected into it.[12] Apart from that, he has initiated and co-founded several long-term nature conservation communication and media projects, such as the Wild Wonders of Europe, Wild Wonders of China, Rewilding Europe, the Swedish Ecotourism Association, Scandinavian Big Five Predators project and Deforestationsweden.org.[13][14][15] He is the managing director and co-owner of Wild Wonders International AB, and co-owner of the nature photography travel agency Wild Nature Photo Adventures.[16]

Widstrand has served as a judge in several international photo competitions including World Press Photo, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Golden Turtle (Russia), European Nature Photographer of the Year-GDT (Germany), Xishuangbanna Biennal (China) and Humanity Photo Awards (China).[2][17] He has also had his work exhibited worldwide.[18][19]

Bibliography

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Bibliography
Year Title Publisher Notes
1993 Safari till världens finaste viltområden Streiffert co-authored with Magnus Elander [sv]
1997 Ajunngilaq Wahlström & Widstrand co-authored with Magnus Elander
1997 Arktis idag Boksenteret co-authored with Magnus Elander
1998 Ecotouring: the Ultimate Guide Firefly Books co-authored with Magnus Elander
1999 I Arktis Natur & Kultur -
2000 Den lilla boken om vargen Egmont Richter co-authored with Magnus Elander and Johan Lewenhaupt [sv]
2002 Rovdjur Max Ström Bokförlag co-authored with Magnus Elander and Johan Lewenhaupt
2002 Den lilla boken om björnen Damm Förlag co-authored with Magnus Elander and Johan Lewenhaupt
2004 Ourson Brun Pôles d'images -
2007 Vilda Sverige : femstjärniga frestelser i fri natur Norstedts förlag -
2007 Wild Sweden: Exploring an Outdoor Wonderland Norstedts förlag English language edition
2007 Wildes Schweden Bruckmann Verlag German language edition
2008 Vindar från Arktis Norstedts förlag co-authored with Magnus Elander
2010 Wild Wonders of Europe Abrams Books co-authored with Peter Cairns, Florian Möllers and Bridget Wijnberg
2010 Merveilleuse Nature La Martinière Groupe co-authored with Peter Cairns, Florian Möllers and Bridget Wijnberg
2010 Wild Wonders of Europe – Exhibition Catalogue Life Publishing co-authored with Peter Cairns, Magnus Lundgren, Florian Möllers and Bridget Wijnberg
2011 Forets d'Europe La Martinière Groupe co-authored with Magnus Lundgren, Florian Möllers and Bridget Wijnberg
2012 Europas Wilde Wasser National Geographic co-authored with Magnus Lundgren, Florian Möllers and Bridget Wijnberg
2012 A la découverte des arbres La Martinière Groupe co-authored with Peter Cairns, Florian Möllers and Bridget Wijnberg
2013 The Aurochs: Born to be Wild Roodbont co-authored with Wouter Helmer, Ronald Goderie and Henri Kerkdijk
2017 Ett vildare liv – En bok om det vildas återkomst Votum förlag co-authored with Magnus Lundgren
2020 Tur: Rashden buit dikim Blagodijnij fond, Beremitske Biosfera Russian language edition, co-authored with Wouter Helmer, Ronald Goderie and Henri Kerkdijk
2021 Papua – Bland paradisfåglar och djävulsrockor Votum förlag co-authored with Magnus Lundgren
2022 El Uro: Nacido para ser Salvaje Lynx Edicions Spanish edition, co-authored with Wouter Helmer, Ronald Goderie and Henri Kerkdijk

Prizes and awards

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Awards
Award Years Remarks
Årets Pandabok/Panda book of the Year – WWF Sweden 1994, 2003, 2009, 2018,[20] 2022[21] -
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1996, 1997 (3), 1998 (2), 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012 11 winning images
Nature Photographer of the Year in Sweden[3] 2001 -
European Nature Photographer of the Year (GDT) 2003 (3), 2004, 2009 5 images
Swedish Publishing Prize 2004 For the website – Nature's Best
UAE Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007 7 images
De Gouden Wimpel (The Golden Streamer award), The Netherlands 2012 -
Por El Planeta, México 2015 2 images
The Golden Turtle awards, Russia 2016 2 images
The Golden Porpoise awards, China 2017 Silver medal
Oasis photo competition, Italy 2017 -
Montphoto, Spain 2018 -
Nature Photographer of the Year, The Netherlands 2019 -
Bird Photographer of the Year (BPOTY), UK 2017, 2019 -
Nature in Focus, India 2021 2 images
Nordic Nature Photo Contest, Norway 2021 7 images
María Luisa Memorial Photo Contest, Spain 2022 -

References

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  1. ^ Lejdelin, Erik (4 November 2021). "Pojken från Jakan som fotograferade hela världen". www.mitti.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Staffan Widstrand is a photographer and a founder and managing director of the mass communication initiative". www.worldpressphoto.org. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Staffan Widstrand årets naturfotograf". www.de5stora.com (in Swedish). 26 June 2002. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  4. ^ Bergström, Susanna (7 February 2020). "Staffan Widstrand visits SLU". www.slu.se. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  5. ^ Perkova, Veronika (29 June 2020). "Staffan Widstrand: We Need to Restart the Love Affair with Nature". veronikaperkova.com. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Grantee 2018 - 2019 Staffan Widstrand". nationalgeographic.org. 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Staffan Widstrand Sweden - Jag älskar natu rens vilda under och är väldigt attraherad av olika kulturers slående vackra uttryck". www.sony.se (in Swedish). 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Staffan Widstrand - Naturfotograferna /N". www.naturfotograferna.se. 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  9. ^ Hansson, Erik (12 October 2021). "Ny bok skildrar okänd pärla för biologisk mångfald". www.natursidan.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  10. ^ Hansson, Erik (8 October 2017). "Ett vildare liv Årets pandabok och en nödvändighet för Europa". www.natursidan.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  11. ^ Vilda Sverige (in Swedish). Norstedt. 18 September 2007. ISBN 978-91-1-301738-9. Retrieved 28 November 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Prokosch, Peter (18 December 2012). "Staffan Widstrand: "There has been a major wildlife comeback in Europe"". www.ltandc.org. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Historik Rovdjurscentret De 5 Stora i Järvsö". www.de5stora.com (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Born To Be Wild – Biodiversity through Nordic lenses". danishculture.com. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  15. ^ "The Team Staffan Widstrand Managing Director". www.wild-wonders.com/. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Partners, managers and photo tour leaders". www.wildnaturefotoresor.se. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  17. ^ Oswell, Adam (2021). "Elephant in the room". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  18. ^ "Guide and workshop leader". www.phototoursnorway.com. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Fotouställningen Born to Be Wild invigdes den 19 october". www.swedenabroad.se (in Swedish). 25 October 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  20. ^ "Goda resultat 2017 Årets Pandabok". www.wwf.se (in Swedish). 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  21. ^ ""Papua" är Årets Pandabok 2022 – ett bevarat paradis med unik artrikedom". www.wwf.se (in Swedish). 26 October 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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