In conjunction with their upcoming special exhibition “Wildlife Photographer of the Year,” and together with the Basel energy supply company IWB and the Fotohaus Wolf, the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel is again holding their popular “Schnapschuss” (Snapshot) photo competition for amateur photographers. Many people are fascinated by photography and passionately enjoy exploring nature with their camera. Whether plants, landscapes, animals, or other touching or dramatic moments offered by nature—they all are captured by hobby photographers young and old. The Naturhistorisches Museum now offers everyone a chance to show their best photo to a broad audience, illustrate the beauty and uniqueness of nature, and perhaps win a valuable prize.

You can submit your photo(s) from now until February 22, 2026. Only amateur photographers are eligible to enter the competition. They are allowed to submit one image in each of the categories “Plants | Landscapes | Natural Phenomena,” “Animal Portraits | Animals in their habitat | Animal Behavior,” and “Children See Nature” (for young photographers ages 5-12). All images that meet the submission guidelines will be displayed in digital form at the museum throughout the duration of the “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” exhibition.

An independent jury—which this year includes the young nature photographer and filmmaker Levi Fitze, the experienced animal photographer Stefan Leimer from the Basel zoo, and Keystone-SDA photo editor and wildlife photographer Julie Lovens —then selects 10 images from each of the three categories and awards the podium places at an award ceremony on April 16, 2026. The 30 best photographs will be exhibited in large format in a special presentation at the museum from from April 17 to June 28, 2026. Perhaps yours is going to be one of them and, with a bit of luck, you could win a fantastic prize from the Fotohaus Wolf!

There will also be several special prizes awarded, including a Biodiversity Prize and a Public Prize. Photographs with a focus on biodiversity will be honored by Basel’s energy company, IWB. After a pre-selection by an external expert jury, an IWB committee selects three images that will be used in digital and analogue communication as part of IWB’s biodiversity campaign. Additionally, all images submitted for the photo competition will enter the race for the Public Prize. Here, the audience decides which photo they like best: the photo with the most clicks wins through online voting from March 1-22, 2026.

For more information, conditions of participation, and to submit your photos, see the website, https://www.nmbs.ch/en/events/snapshot.html.

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