Edwin Godinho’s prize-winning photo ‘The day of the jackal’ which was captured at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa.
LONDON
A Goan photographer hailing from Panaji has won the prestigious British Photography Award (BPA) for the category ‘land animal’.
Edwin Agnelo De Assuncao Godinho, an IT and technology management professional for over 25 years, is an accomplished Wildlife photographer and filmmaker in his spare time. He is working in Technology Management in Wholesale Risk Transformation for one of the largest banks in the world.
GOAN IDENTITY
Edwin grew up in Fontainhas, Panaji and his father, Estevao, was a senior civil servant who held senior positions like Passport Officer and retired as Assistant Director of Fisheries.
“Following retirement, my father practised as a lawyer and was a public notary in Panaji for almost 15 years. He also was a part-time sub-editor of the Portuguese O’Heraldo. My mother Lidia Abreu e Godinho hails from Bambolim. She was a government school teacher and retired as a headmistress,” said Edwin.
Edwin studied in Don Bosco High School, Panaji and went on to pursue a Diploma in Electrical Engineering at the Government Polytechnic, Panaji, followed by a Degree in Electrical Engineering in Goa College of Engineering, Farmagudi.
MOVE TO UK
After working a few years in India, Edwin moved to Europe at the turn of the millennium. There he completed his Masters in Business Administration in the UK, got married and settled in London. Their two children, a girl and a boy, are now at university.
PASSION FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Edwin said his brother was a fantastic photographer who inspired him when he moved to Europe to pick up his first film camera in 2001.
“I used it as a way to explore the country and capture some pictures along the way. In 2007, I picked up my first digital camera and mainly did family, travel photography. I just didn’t get the time to do any photography. I used to work in consulting and it involved a lot of travel – almost 60-70 flights a year – and spending a lot of time away from home,’ admitted Edwin.
“Then in 2016, we decided to go on an African Safari to Tanzania. This was the seminal moment when I decided I’m going to take my photography more seriously and invested in my first decent gear. A nice telephoto zoom and a telephoto prime lens and the rest as they say is history.”
Edwin Godinho along with the British Photography Award (BPA) for the category ‘land animal’.
Edwin describes himself as a self taught person who has experimented with rapidly moving technologies.
“I quickly updated my photography skills. When I was young, I was very good at art, craft and sculpture. So that helped me naturally advance my artistic level in terms of post production of images and film; an integral part of being a good photographer today,’ says Edwin.
“Over the last 4-5 years with the kids grown up, it gave me the bandwidth to explore the world more for photography. So now I travel to Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas to capture my footage. We normally self-drive. Go to a country, pick up a 4x4 and drive for thousands of miles to various National Parks to capture our footage. This requires a lot of research and reading in order to put us in a position to capture great images.”
Edwin’s social media and general presence in the wildlife photography scene has also blossomed over the years.
“My work has been published by all big publishing houses; BBC, Discovery, Nat Geo, Canon UK and most of the UK newspapers. I supply photos and film footage for the stock sites; Getty, Alamy, Shutterstock and Eyeem. I’ve been inducted into the Meta Creators Community (UK),” said Edwin.
“My work has been published two years in a row in the British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) hardback. I finished 8th in the Amateur Photographer of the Year (APOY) in 2021 for category Movement.”
“In 2022, I also finished runners-up in Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Society of Photographers, London. My photos were also shortlisted for the Natural History Museum World Photography Awards in 2022. I also work with charities to provide them images for their calendars to raise funds.
“Finally this year, I won the biggest gong of my Amateur Photography career. I won the British Photography Award (BPA) for the category Land Animal. This is one of the biggest awards in the British Photography scene. I’m nominated for another two big awards; the results will be declared over the next few months. I can’t make the details public as yet.”
FUTURE PLANS
Edwin hopes to transition into a professional filmmaker in the near future.
“In the immediate short term as my day job takes precedence and pays the bills, I will continue doing this at an amateur level. However in the next 5 years I can see myself making the full transition to a professional filmmaker,” said Edwin.
“The intention is to work with big production houses to document wildlife for their box office productions on BBC Natural World, Nat Geo Wild, Sky Nature, etc. It has always been a dream of mine to capture some unseen footage.”
“I also intend working with the Open University and BBC to complete a documentary and submit a thesis to gain a Ph. D in some Animal Behaviour topic never seen before. I’m slowly learning and getting better at the art form and working towards making that dream a reality.”
Edwin’s photos can be viewed on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bebedilimited/ and on Instagram (www.instagram.com/edwin.godinho/).
