Bishop Auckland<\/a>, has been obsessed with African wildlife since he was a boy, spending his pocket money on animal figures and being glued to television programmes such as Tarzan and Daktari.\n<\/p>\n\n While working for Durham Police, firstly as a firearms officer and then a firearms instructor, he studied for a City and Guilds in Photography at Bishop Auckland College.\n<\/p>\n
\n His first trip to Africa was in 2007, to the Masai Mara, in Kenya, during the wildebeest migration followed by travels to places such as Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Botswana.\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Walking with a Legend, Kenya, 2025 (Image: Peter Haygarth)\n<\/p>\n
\n It was at the Zimanga Private Game Reserve, in South Africa, that he captured one of the best shots of his career.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was an encounter between a cheetah and a pack of wild dogs.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was incredible,” he says.\n<\/p>\n
\n The raw and powerful image ended up receiving a Highly Commended in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards, run by the Natural History Museum, in London.\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Peter Haygarth\u2019s exhibition runs until July 25. (Image: Peter Haygarth)\n<\/p>\n
\n It was one of a hundred selected from 48,000 entries and one of 18 displayed subsequently in the state room at Number 10 Downing Street.\n<\/p>\n
\n While that picture was taken from the relative safety of a vehicle, Peter admits he’s had a few incidents that have caused his heart to ‘skip a beat’.\n<\/p>\n
\n As well as patience, a knowledge of animal behaviour has served him well over the years.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s important you sit and watch and get an idea of its behaviour so you can second guess the type of photograph you’re going to get,” he says.\n<\/p>\n
\n ![]()
Wildlife photographer Peter Haygarth (Image: Peter Haygarth)\n<\/p>\n
\n “But a wild animal is still unpredictable.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I’ve been mock charged (a warning charge) a couple of times by elephants.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The sensible thing then is to back off and give them space.\n<\/p>\n
\n “For me, it’s always about the animal.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The last thing I ever want to do is upset them or interfere with their behaviour.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I’d rather miss the shot than do that.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Since retiring from the police, Peter has become a qualified drone operator and videographer.\n<\/p>\n
\n He’s shot Premiership football for four years, filmed in Morocco for BBC’s Top Gear and is the official photographer for Kynren, the outdoor stage spectacular in Bishop Auckland.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Africa is where his heart lies.\n<\/p>\n
\n Richard Hindle, Gallerina’s owner, says: “Peter’s work has an authenticity and passion which transports us.\n<\/p>\n
\n “These incredible creatures surviving a changing world show why life on earth is so awe inspiring.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The atmosphere, power and tenderness combined with his undimmed boyhood passion have made for an incredible exhibition.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Framed with careful consideration, the work looks stunning.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Peter added: “I hope it will inspire some people to pick up a camera and go and see it for themselves, because it’s life changing,” he says.\n<\/p>\n
\n “To see that kind of wildlife in its natural habitat is a beautiful thing.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Wild Africa will be at Gallerina, at 1 Victoria Road, Darlington, from June 13 until July 25.\n<\/p>\n
\n It will feature alongside bronzes by Lake District-based artist David Cemmick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peter Haygarth’s beautiful photographs have been published in newspapers around the world and in the National History Museums…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-616602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}