Bertie Gregory A Wild Life
photo: Bertie Gregory
Sun, Jan 13 / 3 PM / Campbell Hall
Wildlife filmmaker and photographer Bertie Gregory has always been fascinated by the megafauna of wilderness areas. From a young age, Gregory recognized that he could channel his obsession with wildlife into photography. He taught himself to use his father’s camera on walks in the fields near their home in South West England. At the age of 16, he entered his first wildlife photography competition – and won. Selected to be part of 2020 Vision, a project that brought together the U.K.’s top 20 wildlife photographers under 20, Gregory was assigned to find nature in an urban setting. His work demonstrated that there’s wildlife everywhere – even in the heart of a city – and introduced him to his favorite animal: the peregrine falcon. In 2012, he was named Outdoor Photography’s Young Outdoor Photographer of the Year.
Explorer of the Year in 2015. He used his grants to find and film the elusive coastal wolves of Vancouver Island, Canada. The following year, footage from his first solo assignment for National Geographic was commissioned to be its first online wildlife series, wild_life with Bertie Gregory. Gregory has since worked with Steve Winter on a jaguar story for National Geographic, filming a one-hour special for Nat Geo WILD focused on Winter’s work photographing the animal for the magazine. He has also completed the prestigious BBC Natural History Unit camera bursary, spending a year filming a landmark series for the network. Gregory is currently filming new seasons of wild_life for National Geographic.
As a university student, Gregory bartered his photography skills for lodging on overseas trips. Contacting wildlife guides and offering to shoot pictures in exchange for board, he photographed his way through the Amazon and three months in Vancouver. In July 2014, he graduated with honors and a degree in zoology from the University of Bristol – and the next day, he flew to South Africa to assist legendary big cat photographer Steve Winter on assignment for National Geographic. Gregory was named a National Geographic Young Explorer and the Scientific Exploration Society’s Zenith
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