The Montier Photo Festival started over 24 years ago when a group of friends with a passion for photography and wildlife decided to organize a fair showcasing the prestigious « Wildlife Photographer of the Year » competition exhibition – then organized by the BBC Wildlife Magazine and the London Natural History Museum – the world’s most important competition for wildlife photography.
This first event welcomed about 4,000 visitors in 2 days. One year later the « fair » turned into a « festival ». The Organization for the Wildlife and Nature Photo Festival (i.e. AFPAN « l’Or Vert ») was thus founded.
The festival has quickly become a must-attend event for both amateur and professional photographers as well as nature lovers and the general public. Every year, key figures from different fields are invited to be patrons of the festival, such as Allain BOUGRAIN-DUBOURG, Yann ARTHUS-BERTRAND, Hubert REEVES, Nicolas VANNIER, Matthieu RICARD, Isabelle AUTISSIER, Dr Bindeshwar PATHAK, Gilles BOEUF, Louis ESPINASSOUS, Jacques PERRIN.
The festival also welcomes outstanding French and foreign photographers such as Vincent MUNIER, Jim BRANDENBURG, Tim LAMAN, Frans LANTING, Steve WINTER, James BALOG and recently Kyriakos KAZIRAS and REZA.