In Singur, a place that entered Bengal’s political history through a bitter battle over farmland and the withdrawal of Tata Motors’ Nano project, a 14-year-old girl is telling a different story about her hometown through her camera lens.
Krittika Mukherjee, a Class IX student of Singur Golap Mohini Mallick Girls’ High School, has earned distinction in the 11–14 Years category of the 62nd Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, organised by London’s Natural History Museum. Her photograph, Home Comforts, has secured a place in one of the world’s most celebrated wildlife photography exhibitions.
The recognition, announced in London on October 13, is a remarkable achievement for the young photographer. Among 65,403 entries submitted from 121 countries and territories, only 100 images were selected for the competition’s gallery. Krittika is believed to be the first Bengali photographer recognised in its junior categories and the only Indian honoured across the three age groups for young photographers this year.
Her story, however, begins far from the grand landscapes usually associated with wildlife photography. It starts in a small garden beside her home, where birds, insects and the quiet activity of the natural world became her first subjects.
“I am extremely happy and honoured to receive this recognition from Wildlife Photographer of the Year,” Krittika said. But her ambition extends beyond the award. She wants other children to discover what she found outside her doorstep.
“You do not need to travel far to find something extraordinary; sometimes, it is waiting just outside your home,” she said, dedicating her achievement to school students across India. She hopes they will look beyond their classrooms, explore nature and understand their role in protecting the country’s natural heritage.
That instinct to look closely at the world has been nurtured at home. Krittika’s father, Kallol Mukherjee, is a well-known wildlife photographer, while her elder sister is also an award-winning photographer. Growing up in a family where wildlife, cameras and conversations about images were part of everyday life, Krittika had an early introduction to the craft. Yet the decisive step was her own: she first picked up a camera at nine, when she was in Class III, and began developing an eye for details that others might easily miss.
In that sense, photography may well be in her blood, but her achievement reflects the curiosity and patience she has brought to it. Now in its 62nd year, Wildlife Photographer of the Year has grown from a modest competition into an international benchmark for nature photography. Its selected images are judged for their originality, creativity, technical quality and ethical approach, while often revealing the vulnerability of wildlife and the pressures on natural habitats.
This year’s overall winner, The Aftermath by Italian photographer Federico Veronesi, captures an elephant carrying her dead calf. Indian photographer Sitaram Raul also won the senior Behaviour: Invertebrates category with Shifting Sand, showing a scorpion burrowing into the dunes of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert.
The exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum on October 16. For Krittika, whose photographic world opened its doors to her in a village garden, the journey to London is more than a personal milestone. It is a reminder that a young observer, with patience and a camera, can find a place on the world stage without ever losing sight of home.
