Behind the lens

SERGEY GORSHKOV Wildlife photographer

www.instagram.​com/sergey_gorshkov_photographer

A self-taught photographer of the natural world, Sergey Gorshkov won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in 2020, for his photo of a tiger hugging a tree in his native Russia. Passionate about conservation, Gorshkov chooses to photograph only subjects that profoundly affect him. He was a natural choice for joining the judging panel of the Remembering Tigers photo competition earlier this year, where Digital Camera readers were invited to submit their best photographs of tigers (see the winning images in issue 281, p92). With the Remembering Tigers book now on sale (p101), we caught up with Gorshkov to discover more about his craft... and that winning image.

Why do you love big cats?

I've been photographing wildlife for more than 20 years and with my photos, I'm trying to make a small contribution and make this world a better place, both for people and for wild animals. Leopards are my favourite wild cats, and I've photographed them in Africa for 20 years but to my shame, I didn't have any pictures of the tiger I had never seen them in the wild. So the most incredible gift for me was the opportunity to show and tell people about the beauty of Primorsky Krai [in the far east of Russia] and the Amur tigers living there. We are responsible for their future. Will we be able to save the northernmost tigers in the world? Will our children and grandchildren be able to see them in the wild?