India is home to some of the world’s most diverse flora and fauna. And we have several talented photographers dedicated to capturing it in the best way possible. One of them, is 23-year-old Aishwarya Sridhar, who just achieved a major career milestone.

Sridhar has become the first Indian woman to win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. Sridhar’s winning image was among 50,000 entries from over 80 countries across the world. Only 100 images were shortlisted and she won the award for her photograph in the Behaviour Invertebrates category.

Sridhar shared her excitement and gratitude on social media. She wrote, “A very BIG THANK YOU to the entire Jury for awarding my image. I am super grateful to the team of NHM for featuring me in a special video that was played during the LIVE event.

A huge congratulations to all the other winners too and the legendary photographers from India who have also made it big in this competition.

A truly commendable job done by the entire team of WPY and NHM as they brought together a fantastic Virtual Awards ceremony for the first time.”

Sridhar captured her winning photo, titled ‘Lights of Passion,’ with the Canon EOS-1DX Mark II.

‘Lights of Passion’ is set to be exhibited at the Natural History Museum soon and will also be a part of a touring exhibition that will travel to 60 venues across six continents.

In case you want to get more familiar with Aishwarya Sridhar’s work, scroll through some of her most striking images: