A conversation with the Natural History Museum’s photographer of the year

Shane Gross, a Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, has won the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
His work is a lifetime in the making — his childhood passion for sharks has grown into a love for everything that lives underwater. Gross is a fan of telling long-form narratives about the ocean and positive and negative impact humans have in the relations they have with the big water.
His prize-winning image, entitled “The Swarm of Life” depicts a group of tadpoles in the Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, B.C. He snorkled for hours in order to capture the perfect picture. 
CTV News sat down with Gross to find out more about his win. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Rachel CrowSpreadingWings: Okay, Shane, I love the picture, by the way. It’s absolutely beautiful. Tell me about what it was like when you found out that your picture was the winner this year.
Shane Gross: I couldn’t believe it. Absolute sheer disbelief. There’s some video of me floating out there, and, I don’t remember really much of the moment, but I was sitting there all relaxed because I was so convinced that I wasn’t going to win. I had my cell phone up to film whoever was going to win. I thought it’d be a nice moment to film it for them.
And then when they said my name, I just looked around and started to shake my head, like, there must be a mistake. Is this a joke?
The first in line of my acceptance speech. I think most people didn’t get my reference, but I say this pig’s blood is going to fall on me from the ceiling.
It was a reference to the movie Carrie. But, yeah, I was sure that there must be something wrong. It was very surreal. I’ve been entering the competition since 2011, and it’s, you know, the pinnacle of any wildlife photographer’s dreams. So, to have my dreams come true that day was mind blowing.
RCSW: And how many pictures did you submit?
SG: You get 25 images per photographer. There’s no point in submitting only 24, so I submitted 25.
RCSW: What made you select that picture for your 25th?
It was a combination of things. It was the fact that they have a wetlands category and that image obviously, fit that category very well. It’s an area that’s very overlooked. I understand that the Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year introduced that wetlands category is because they weren’t getting many entries and they wanted to encourage photographers to pay attention to these areas, to bring them more love and hopefully more protections.
RCSW: So that was the main motivator to, to pick that image. And when you first saw it, when you first had the actual picture in your hand, what did you think about it?
SG: Well, I’m a very critical. And, you know, most photographers are very critical of their own work. For me, it was narrowing it down — I took hundreds of photos that day. You narrow it down to your top 10 or whatever that you’re going to process and colour-correct. From there, it’s looking at all the little details: ‘Well, this picture over here has this little thing that I like, but this one over here is this little thing that I like.” And eventually, you narrow it down into like, ‘Okay, I think that this is the best one,’ but you don’t really know. Maybe you show it to friends or family or whatever and they give their opinions.
But I’m confident that I selected the right frame now.
Shane Gross’s image, captured beneath the surface of Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, B.C. (Image courtesy of Shane Gross)
RCSW: Yeah. No kidding. Where does your passion for photography come from?
SG: I honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been interested in photography since I was a small child, but even more so, I’ve been obsessed with anything that’s underwater. I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan. We’d head up to Last Mountain Lake every chance we got, and we would go fishing. And I think that started my connection with anything that was underwater.
And then I got obsessed with the ocean and sharks and all that sort of thing, and photography is just a great way to bring that world to life. Not everybody can go snorkeling or scuba diving, so it’s a real honour to be able to show that world to people who otherwise wouldn’t see it.
RCSW: Any advice for any upcoming photographers, or people who may not think that their work is good?
SG: I would probably just quit now. No, yeah, there’s really no way around it. You have to just put in your time being out there shooting whatever it is that you’re interested in. It sounds cheesy, but it’s so true. You really have to follow your heart. Whatever it is that you love, that’s what you should be photographing.
And if that means you’re photographing your pets, your family, your community, whatever it is, I believe that the world would be a better place if more people got out there and shared their love and passion with each other. And we can understand each other better. We can understand the natural world better. And hopefully, more good things will come from that.
RCSW: Is there anything that you’d like to add?
SG: I think it’s just important to add that the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition reaches millions of people. It has a traveling exhibition. And so, with so many people able to see these pictures and read the stories behind them, real change can come from that. My hope for this image is that it inspires people to protect wetlands or get out and explore the wetlands in their backyards, and to fight for them.