Bence Máté

• Name — Bence Máté • Born — 26 February 1985 • Birthplace — Szeged, Szeged • Years Active — 1999-today • Education — Pusztaszer Elementary School Kiss Ferenc Forestry Vocational School • Occupation — Photographer • Awards — BBC Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2010, BBC Young Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2002,

• Illustration — Ice bath, 2005 • Illustration — Photographing cobra in Sri Lanka • Illustration — Caiman photography in Brazil, 2009 • Illustration — Tower blind, Costa Rica, 2009 Bence Máté was born in Szeged on 26 February 1985. When Máté was two, the family moved to the edge of the village of Pusztaszer, and built a house by the wetlands. Máté went to the primary school in Pusztaszer, where both his parents were teachers. Later, he attended the Kiss Ferenc Forestry High School. In 2000, Máté was named Hungary's 'Young Wildlife Photographer of The Year'. He won that title a total of five times between 2000 and 2004. In 2002, at the age of 17, he became a member of naturArt, the association of Hungarian Wildlife Photographers. In 2001, the image 'Susliks' was highly commended in the BBC Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and, the following year, in 2002, his image 'Recycling' won him the title of the BBC Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year. In November 2004, he switched from analogue to digital technology. In spring 2005, he experimented with a one-way glass photo technique, which allows him to photograph shy animals more closely without disturbing them. In 2005, Máté won the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year's Eric Hosking Award (for photographers aged 18–26). He photographed wildlife of Pripyat National Park in Belarus as part of National Geographic's Wild Wonders of Europe, which included 69 European wildlife photographers photographing the rich and varied natural heritage of 48 European countries. In 2006, he was named Hungary's 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' for the first time. He won this title in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015. In 2010, his image of leaf-cutter ants, entitled 'Marvel of Ants', won him the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and Máté became the only photographer in the history of the competition to win the Grand Prize in both the young and adult category. In 2010, Máté was named Honorary Citizen by the village of Pusztaszer in recognition of his contribution to the local community.