Eric John Hosking OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (October 2, 1909 - February 22, 1991) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 photographer noted for his bird photography

Nature photography

Nature photography refers to a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures...

.

Hosking was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Although he pioneered several techniques for bird photography, during the first 10 years of his photography career, Hosking was not successful in being published. His breakthrough came after news coverage of an accident when Hosking was attacked by a tawny owl during a photo shoot, resulting in the loss of his left eye. The coverage launched Hosking to fame, creating a market for his bird photographs.

Hosking's most famous image is Barn Owl with Prey of 1936. His most widely read book is An Eye for a Bird, his autobiography published in 1970. Hosking was one of a few photographers who were able to earn a living by taking images only of birds.

Hosking was president of the Nature Photographic Society, vice president of the British Ornithologists' Union

British Ornithologists' Union

The British Ornithologists' Union aims to encourage the study of birds in Britain, Europe and elsewhere, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation....

, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...

, the British Naturalists' Association

British Naturalists' Association

The British Naturalists' Association is one of the United Kingdom's oldest natural history organisations, originally founded in 1905 as The British Empire Naturalists' Association-Aims:...

 and honorary vice president of the Royal Photographic Society

Royal Photographic Society

The Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...

. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the RSPB in 1974, and received an OBE in 1977 for his natural history photography and work in conservation.