Staffan Widstrand

Staffan Widstrand (born 1959) is a Swedish photographer and author based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Early life and education Widstrand was born in Sweden in 1959. He also served as a reserved officer in the Swedish Armoured Troops Corps. In 1984, he founded his photography company Staffan Widstrand Photography in Järfälla, Stockholm. Between 1984 and 1990, Widstrand worked as a picture editor at Natur & Kultur. His work often highlights aspects of the planet's natural heritage with the aim of raising awareness and encouraging its protection. He is a National Geographic Explorer since 2008 and a Sony Imaging Brand Ambassador since 2020. Between 1997 and 2020, Widstrand served as a brand ambassador for Nikon. He is also a member of Naturfotograferna, the Swedish nature photographers association.

Widstrand has co-founded or led several communication and conservation initiatives. These include Ajunngilaq (1994–1998), a project on contemporary life in the Arctic, Big Five (1998–2003), focusing on Sweden's large carnivores, which developed into the Swedish National Carnivore Information Centre “De 5 Stora” in Järvsö; Wild Wonders of Europe (2007–2012); Rewilding Europe (2011–), where he was Director of Communications (2011–2015); and Wild Wonders of China (2012–). He also co-founded the Swedish Nature- and Ecotourism Association (1996–) and contributed to the development of its “Nature’s Best” quality label in 2002. More recently, he co-founded the carnivore-related initiatives Sweden’s Big Five (2023–2025) and Living Side by Side (2025).

Exhibitions Widstrand's major exhibitions include Ajunngilaq – Arctic Moments (1997–2002), Scandinavian Big Five Carnivores (2000–2006), Wild Sweden (2007–2009), Wild Wonders of Europe (2008–2013), Rewilding the Danube Delta (2013), and Wild Wonders of China (2016–). His work has been shown in venues such as Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin, Prague, Madrid, The Hague, Beijing, Shanghai, and Washington, among others. In 2021–2022, his photographs were included in the “Nordic Light” touring exhibition in China, organized by the embassies of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in China.

Recognition In 1993, Widstrand co-authored his first book Safari till världens finaste viltområden - Ecotouring: the Ultimate Guide with Magnus Elander. The book was awarded with the (WWF Pandabook of the Year) in the year 1994 by the WWF. Widstrand has authored 20 books in 10 languages and has been awarded with the Årets Pandabok -WWF Sweden prize five times.

In 1996, Widstrand was awarded his first Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, staged by the Natural History Museum, London. Since then, he has received Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards 11 times. In 2001, Widstrand was bestowed with the Årets Naturfotograf i Sverige (Swedish Nature Photographer of the Year) title. He has also had five awarded images in the European Nature Photographer of the Year (GDT) awards, since 2003. Outdoor Photographer in 2010 called Widstrand one of the World's 40 Most influential nature photographers. Apart from that, he has initiated and co-founded several long-term nature conservation communication and media projects, such as the Wild Wonders of Europe, Wild Wonders of China, Rewilding Europe, the Swedish Ecotourism Association, Scandinavian Big Five Predators project and Deforestationsweden.org. He is the managing director and co-owner of Wild Wonders International AB, and co-owner of the nature photography travel agency Wild Nature Photo Adventures.

Widstrand has served as a judge in several international photo competitions including World Press Photo, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Golden Turtle (Russia), European Nature Photographer of the Year-GDT (Germany), Xishuangbanna Biennal (China) and Humanity Photo Awards (China). He has also had his work exhibited worldwide.