Seth Forestson won the Urban Wildlife category of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 with a Pixel 7 Pro shot of a monitor lizard in Bangkok.

A photographer from Croydon has won a category of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the Natural History Museum’s international competition. He took the picture on his phone.

Seth Forestson won the Urban Wildlife category for 2026 with a picture called Urban Jungle. It shows a common water monitor, a large lizard, carrying a fish through a park in Bangkok with the city’s towers behind it.

The museum announced the winners on 13 October. This year’s competition drew 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories, the most it has ever had (Natural History Museum, 13 October).

The picture

The museum’s entry for the photograph sets out how it was made (Wildlife Photographer of the Year gallery):

  • Where: Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand
  • What: a common water monitor (Varanus salvator) with its “fish supper”
  • Camera: a Google Pixel 7 Pro smartphone
  • Settings: 1/291 second at f1.9, ISO 47

The judges’ caption says the hard part was not finding the lizards but catching one doing something. They spend most of the day basking. When Seth spotted this one, he lowered himself onto the mud to frame it against the skyline.

Water monitors have adapted to cities across South and Southeast Asia, the caption adds. In Bangkok they feed on the catfish and koi in Lumphini Park’s lakes.

Who he is

The museum’s profile says Seth is in the early stages of his career. He grew up in London and studied zoology at university. He wants to help “people from all backgrounds to connect with nature, including those who may not get the same chances as others to connect”.

His Croydon connection comes from the council. Croydon’s Executive Mayor, Jason Perry, congratulated him in his weekly letter on 23 October. He wrote that Seth “describes himself as ‘a random guy from Croydon’” (Croydon Council, 23 October).

The mayor also described Urban Jungle as “the first winning entry ever taken on a smartphone”. The museum’s own pages do not make that claim, so we cannot confirm it. They do confirm the phone.

One detail differs between the museum’s pages. Its winners release lists him as “(USA)”, while his gallery profile lists him as “(UK)” and says he grew up in London.

The rest of the winners

The overall title went to Italian photographer Federico Veronesi for The Aftermath, an image of a female elephant carrying a dead calf in Namibia. The museum says it is the first time in the competition’s 62 years that both the adult and young overall winners were black-and-white pictures.

What it means for you

You can see Urban Jungle, with the other winners, at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. The exhibition opened on 16 October and runs until Sunday 11 July 2027.

Ticket Peak Off-peak
Adult from £19.00 from £17.00
Concession £15.20 £13.60
Child £9.50 £8.50

Peak prices exclude the museum’s optional Gift Aid donation. The exhibition is open every day from 10am to 5.50pm, with last entry at 4.30pm. The museum warns that weekends sell out quickly (Natural History Museum).

The exhibition will also tour the UK and abroad. The museum has not yet said where.

From East Croydon, Southern trains run direct to London Victoria. South Kensington is then two stops on the District or Circle line.