This year we’re celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of our world-renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Over the past six decades, the stunning photographs it’s championed have not only told stories about the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world but advanced our scientific understanding of it.

In this free display, we take a look at the role photography has played in advancing the science of natural history. Tracing the history of photography in natural history, we explore not only the close ties between science, photography and art but how modern imaging techniques are used in science and storytelling.

As equipment and technology continue to advance, we’re seeing photography play an ever more vital role in research. From images of cyanotypes to a 3D-printed cardboard head of Dippy our iconic dinosaur, new imaging techniques are unlocking previously unknown details about life on Earth both past and present.

Highlights include:

• 3D-printed cardboard head of Dippy
• autochrome slides of wildflowers from Kashmir in India
• insights into the imaging and analysis techniques we use
• historical photographs from our archives
• an x-ray of a taxidermy grizzly bear foot