{"id":830657,"date":"2026-11-11T01:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T01:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/830657\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T01:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T01:10:17","slug":"bats-spiders-and-slime-molds-make-the-close-up-photographer-of-the-year-shortlist-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/830657\/","title":{"rendered":"Bats, Spiders, and Slime Molds Make the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Shortlist \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 15,300 submissions made their way to the judges for this year\u2019s Close-Up Photographer of the Year<\/a>, setting a record for the highest number of entries in the competition\u2019s history. From uncanny insects to slime molds to unexpected animal interactions, photographs captured by amateur and professional photographers alike highlight the diverse and sometimes surreal flora and fauna all around us.<\/p>\n

The contest winners will be announced in January. In the meantime, a photography challenge on the theme of \u201cClose to Home\u201d is open for submissions through the end of the month. Explore some of our favorites from the shortlist below, and learn more on the contest\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Joao Pontes, \u201cSuspended\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Barry Webb, \u201cFrosted Lamproderma\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Parks Marilla, \u201cAnts Eating Racer\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Wayne Sayers, \u201cFleabane Tortoise Beetle larva\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Hira Punjabi, \u201cBat Bath\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>David Hunter, \u201cSea Eye\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>James Rogerson, \u201cCloaked Auk\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Lisa Skelton, \u201cRockpool Sanctuary\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Adalbert Mojrzisch, \u201cBeachgrass\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Oliver Lacey, \u201cA Little Punky\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>David Myles, \u201cDewy Physarum album\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Craig Loechel, \u201cThis didn\u2019t happen overnight\u201d<\/p>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> now, and support independent arts publishing.<\/p>\n

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Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 15,300 submissions made their way to the judges for this year\u2019s Close-Up Photographer of the Year,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":830658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[2851,6225,6485,6486,100495,1120,96,5133,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-830657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-animals","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-cupoty","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-insects","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830657","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=830657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}