Gallery: Environmental Photographer of the Year 2016
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CIWEM Changing Climate Award 2016 - Sandra Hoyn, a German photojournalist, collected the CIWEM Changing Climate Award 2016 for her poignant image Life Jackets on the Greek Island of Lesbos. The discarded life jackets had been used by refugees during their journey from Turkey to Greece. Commenting on the photo, Terry Fuller, CIWEM Chief Executive, said: “This image depicts the major humanitarian crisis of our time, each of the life vests representing a refugee and their journey. This image serves as a warning and reinforces the need for us to act now and think globally”. -
Konstantinos Stergiopoulos’s photograph, Waste disposal gone wrong, shows the disposal of a pig carcass in an undisclosed location in Cyprus. The photo reflects the condition of waste disposal and the lack of appropriate waste management in farms on the outskirts of Nicosia. -
Mustafa Abdul Hadi’s photograph, Behind the Taj Mahal, shows a man searching through the garbage in a large expanse behind the Taj Mahal at sunrise. He says the photograph serves as a reminder of the lack of appropriate waste management in this part of the world. -
Oksana Lefimenko took her photograph, Water Lilies, while walking along the bank of one of Kharkiv’s rivers in Ukraine. The three bottles caught Lefimenko’s attention as they looked “very much like flowers”. According to the judges, the photograph depicts the coexistence of nature alongside the waste products of humankind. -
Environmental Photographer of the Year 2016 - Sara Lindström claimed the title of Environmental Photographer of the Year 2016 and £3,000 in prize money for her photograph, Wildfire. “It was an exceptionally warm day in July in southern Alberta when I came across this massive pinkish smoke plume rising high towards the sky. The big flames were thriving on the dry land and had me completely mesmerised in fear and awe.” -
Atkins Built Environment Award - The Atkins Built Environment Award was given to SL Shanth Kumar, a photojournalist from India. His powerful image, Losing Ground to Manmade Disaster, depicts the damage that is being caused by both man-made and natural forces to the coastline at Chennai. Janet Miller, Cities and Development Director at Atkins, praised Kumar’s photograph for acting “as a powerful reminder of the potential risks at stake when human actions disrupt natural processes, particularly in areas of rapid and unplanned urban expansion”. -
Young Environmental Photographer of the Year 2016 - The title of Young Environmental Photographer of the Year 2016 has been awarded to Luke Massey. His photograph, Poser, Illinois, shows a peregrine falcon sitting upon a balcony rail against the backdrop of a built-up urban environment in Chicago. “Peregrines were extirpated in Illinois in the 1960s, but in the 1980s a reintroduction programme began and now 22 pairs nest in Chicago alone. One pair have chosen a Chicagoan's condo balcony as their nest site, and in 2015 I followed them as they raised four chicks to fledging.” -
Forestry Commission England People, Nature and Economy Award 2016 - Pedram Yazdani was the winner of the Forestry Commission England People, Nature and Economy Award 2016 for his image, Sand. Yazdani explains the importance behind his image: “The Salt Lake Urmia could be a symbol of what will happen soon to Iran – it is going to be dried out. The biggest salt lake in the Middle East, it now contains only 10 per cent of the original amount of water, as a result both of climate change, and of dam and well construction.”
Images of discarded life jackets from refugees crossing the Mediterranean, waste pickers in the shadow of the Taj Mahal and a sign of the lack of waste management on farms in Cyprus are among the 60 photos selected by the Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year competition, which will be exhibited at the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Over 10,000 photos were submitted for this year’s competition, which is open to both amateurs and professionals. Launched by the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) in 2007, it aims to inspire a global audience to think differently about contemporary social and environmental issues, including sustainable development, pollution and human rights.
Five photographs and one short film have received awards and will be displayed along with the other 60 shortlisted works in London from 29 June to 21 August this year. The exhibition will then tour to Girzedale Forest, supported by Forestry Commission England, from 3 September until 1 January 2017.
The judges were seeking pictures that showed ‘the dynamic link between environmental and social issues in a way that makes us think differently about the world around us’, with submissions being assessed on the following qualities: impact, creativity, originality, composition, relevance and technical quality.
The winners and some of the shortlisted entries have been listed below, accompanied by statements given by photographers and members of the associated organisations.
Environmental Film of the Year 2016
An award for Environmental Film of the Year 2016 was also awarded to Sergiu Jiduc for his film ‘The Karkoram Anomaly Project, Pakistan’. The film documents the surging glaciers that can be seen in the world’s highest mountain range, and the subsequent devastation that is caused by glacial lake outburst floods, where a dam containing a lake fails.
Jiduc draws attention to a climatic anomaly that has led to tsunami-size waves devastating the landscape and settlements of the remote region and taking the lives of the local Balti people. The judges praised the film for showing a scientific understanding of a critical issue while also developing a ‘sincerely empathetic humanitarian stance’.
Jiduc stated that the research within his film “…could help gauge the future availability of water for hundreds of millions of people as well as to provide insights on how glaciers will change in the future. But, most importantly, mapping and quantifying the risk of GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods) in the area could save thousands of lives.”
More information about the Environmental Photographer of the Year competition and exhibition can be found on the CIWEM website.
