I am an amateur photographer, I have a website and I occasionally post my photos on the social networks Mastodon and iNaturalist. The reactions to my pictures are consistently positive, which I am very happy about.

At the end of August 2021, out of the blue, I received a license request for one of my photos from the “American Museum of Natural History” in New York City.

It took me a while to realize what this meant.

One of the largest natural history museums in the world asks me for a license to use one of my photos in a new exhibition.

This feels like a knighthood and fills me with great pride.

A friendly dialogue ensued via e-mail, during which a few more details were discussed. Of course, I granted a free license (CC BY-NC) to the museum, which is a non-profit organization.

It is about this photo of a Chinese Mantis that I took in September 2019.

Chinese Mantis ♂︎

And when the new exhibition opens, I’ll stop by New York.

(updated 19. March 2023)