It looks unreal, or too real, or maybe not real enough. It looks like a painting. Bonnie Cheung’s caption reads: In July each year, this heart-pounding scene of wildebeests migration repeats itself in Kenya. This photo sums up so much about what wild is, as well as what we stand to lose when we standardize and commodify and box nature in.
Implausibility is the collective noun for a group of wildebeest, by the way. Also gnus. I had to look that one up. Given the quality of the crowd of wildebeest in Bonnie Cheung’s photo, the name implausibility seems apt.
Each year, the World Photography Organisation hosts the competition Sony World Photography Awards. This photo is from their recently announced shortlist of winners – they’ll announce the winner around March – April. This year’s contest received more than 140,000 entries from 166 countries, and a selection of the highlights can be found at The Atlantic’s In Focus with Alan Taylor section.
For more information, see The Atlantic and The 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.
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