Last week, The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) revealed the winners of this year’s Environmental Photographer of the Year awards, highlighting images that turn an unblinking eye on man’s impact on the environment in ways both subtle and direct.
The winning images were revealed on the same day as the UN’s Climate Action Summit in New York, and the CIWEM didn’t pull any punches in describing the global climate crisis depicted in many of the photographs:
“These winning photographs reveal the raw reality of how people and wildlife are struggling with the impacts of climate change all around the world,” reads the CIWEM press release. “This award exists to inspire change from political leaders, decision-makers, and the general public.”
Environmental Photographer of the Year – SL Shanth Kumar
Photojournalist SL Shanth Kumar earned the title of Environmental Photographer of the year for his frightening picture Hightide Enters Home (above), which portrays a wave tossing a 40-year-old angler out of his home in the western rural areas of Mumbai. Luckily, the man was safeguarded by individual anglers before he could be cleared away, however, the occasion—and the picture—has left an enduring effect on Kumar.
“I accept change is a steady wonder. Today this change is showing as environmental change,” says Kumar. “As a photojournalist, I am seeing everything spread out before my eyes. I have seen dry season, unnecessary downpour, summers getting more sweltering and winters getting colder. I accept this change isn’t great and we have to act now else it will affect the ages to come.”
Look down to see the remainder of the classification champs, just as some that we chose from the waitlist. To see the full waitlist from the current year’s challenge or become familiar with the Environmental Photographer of the Year rivalry, head over to the CIWEM site.
Young Environmental Photographer of the Year – Neville Ngomane
It is unusual for someone like me to attend a dehorning. It is not easy to watch but this is a last-ditch attempt to keep rhinos safe from poaching.
Changing Environments Winner – Sean Gallagher
Fallen trees lie on a beach as the waves from the Funafuti lagoon in Tuvalu lap around them. Land erosion has always been a problem for the country but problems are intensifying as sea levels rise, inundating the coastline more frequently.
Sustainable Cities Winner – Eliud Gil Samaniego
The 1st of January of 2018, Mexicali was one of the most contaminated cities in the world because the pyrotecnics, climate change, geographic location, industry and cars.
Water, Equality and Sustainability Winner – Frederick Dharshie Wish
A young boy drinking dirty water due to lack of water points in the area due to deforestation thus this leading to health risks to the boy.
Climate Action and Energy Winner – J Henry Fair
Hambach Forest was nearly 12000 years old when it was bought by a power company to dig for the brown coal buried underneath. The ancient forest was once the size of Manhattan. Now only 10 percent of it remains.
Heart of the Ocean by Tran Tuan Viet
As fish stocks decrease fishing methods become increasingly extreme. Destructive fishing with small hole nets devastate the marine environment.
Invisible by Valerie Leonard
In the Sisdol landfill in Nepal wastepickers rummage through garbage all day long looking for materials or valuables to sell. This temporary landfill located near Kathmandu has been in operation since 2005. Today it is running out of its capacity.
Lungs of the Earth by Ian Wade
Photographing trees at night with a long shutter speed and 4 LED spotlights isn’t easy—the tiniest amount of wind will blur the canopy. It took me 5 long nights to capture this image. But it was well worth it, the final image shows the trees in all their spendor.
Daily Labor by M Yousuf Tushar
Thousands of ultra poor people come to the capital city of Dhaka to find work, failed to get good works, and are now performing grueling jobs such as coal unloading from light vessels, carrying the load on their heads.
Sleep Fatigue by Amdad Hossain
A women sleeps on a dirty riverbank in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The Plastic Quarry by Aragon Renuncio Antonio
A boy plays with a plastic bag. About 380 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide each year. Production increased exponentially from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons by 2015. Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.
Trash by Şebnem Coşkun
Underwater cleaning in the Bosporus within the Zero Waste Blue Project
Image credits: All images used courtesy of CIWEM/Environmental Photographer of the Year
from Sustainability Topics
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire