Pro in focus

Graeme Green meets the wildlife photographer who goes to the ends of the Earth to capture her images of young animals

Suzi Eszterhas

Wildlife photographer and conservationist

Suzi Eszterhas is an award-winning wildlife photographer, best-known for her work documenting newborn animals and family life in the wild. She was awarded as the 2021 Outstanding Photographer of the Year by the North American Nature Photography Association. She has also won awards in many competitions including the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, National Wildlife Photo Contest and Environmental Photographer of the Year. She has 21 books in print, with another three in progress. Her latest book, New on Earth: Baby Animals in the Wild, is published by Earth Aware Editions. www.suzieszterhas.com

Sea otter. Mother and newborn pup (just three days old). Monterey, California.

Suzi Eszterhas

Suzi Eszterhas has been “completely obsessed” with baby animals ever since she was a child. “It’s because of the vulnerability and innocence,” she says. “When these images touch people, it can soften their hearts and make them care about things they don’t necessarily care about.”

Getting people around the world to care about wildlife is an urgent mission, with many species currently facing the threat of extinction, and issues such as habitat loss, poaching and climate change creating a global biodiversity crisis. Eszterhas is one of a growing number of photographers using her work to give wildlife a better shot at a future.

Her pictures, which have appeared in globally renowned publications such as Time, The New York Times, Smithsonian and BBC Wildlife, focus on newborn animals and family life in the wild, including tigers, gorillas, bears, orangutans, whales and more. Many of her best images are collected together in her book New On Earth. Not only does Eszterhas use her images to raise awareness on wildlife issues, but she’s actively involved in conservation. She’s a trustee of the Sloth Conservation Foundation and throughout her career has raised money through prints, book sales and photo tours for organisations including the Wildlife Conservation Network, Sumatran Orangutan Society, Cheetah Conservation Fund and Pandas International. “I’m 44 now, and in my lifetime, I’ve seen a lot of changes,” she explains. “We’re losing animals and wildlife. We are now left with 7,000 cheetahs in the world. It was different 20 years ago when I started photographing cheetahs, so it’s devastating for me to see these changes for so many species.