Mohammad Rakibul Hasan, The Last Savings at Bengal Delta, 2021, Satkhira, Bangladesh
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan has won the overall 2022 Earth Photo competition and the People category for his pair of images The Last Savings at Bengal Delta and The Climate Crisis. Taken in the Satkhira district on the coastal belt of Bangladesh around the Sundarbans, they document the devastating effects of climate change, rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions affecting people’s lives.
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan and the five other category winners were selected from over 1,700 submissions by an expert panel of judges, chaired by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Marissa Roth.
The Climate Crisis, 2021, Satkhira, Bangladesh, Overall and People Category winner
Alasdair MacLeod, Head of Enterprise and Resources at the Society said of the winning images: “As a photojournalist, Hasan’s work conveys a powerful sense of the urgent need for greater investment in mitigation for coastal communities impacted by climate change. As a visual storyteller too, Hasan’s practice communicates a spirit of dignity, fortitude, and strength for all who witness the life experience of the communities he, with his camera, seeks to represent.”
Daniel Franc won the Place category for his image Surfing the Spring, which celebrates vast green expanses in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. The rolling hills of these agricultural counties (sometimes called the ‘Czech Tuscany’) are exquisitely photogenic, yet the vistas are not always a sign of a good agriculture as many natural forests were cut to make space for fields.
Pal Hermansen won the Nature category for his work Diversity, capturing over a hundred insects found in a lamp that had an unintended opening during one summer in Norway.
Rosa Rodriguez won the Video category for her work, White Line, which comprises images taken in the regions of Kulusuk and Qaanaaq in Greenland, Yamalia in Siberia, and Norwegian and Finnish Lapland. It speaks of the Arctic region as the “place to return to the original serenity and simplicity of the human being”, describing the white immensity of the Arctic and the peoples that inhabit it in harmony with nature.
David Rippin won the Changing Forests category with his photograph Destruction, which documents the aftermath of Storm Arwen near his home in Cumbria. The image focuses on windblown silver birch and the snapped trunks of spruce trees, showcasing the cycle of forest renewal and regeneration.
Sandra Weller won the Climate of Change category with a series of photographs documenting how the village of Nymanarr, The Gambia, gained access to electricity through a solar green mini-grid plant, and how the lives of its inhabitants were transformed as a result.
During the awards ceremony held at the Society on Thursday 14 July, Society President Nigel Clifford also announced the introduction of a new award and category for Earth Photo 2023 thanks to the generosity of Society friend and donor, Mrs Louise Kaye, in memory of her husband.
The David Wolf Kaye Future Potential Award will be launched from next year to photographers aged under 25, helping young photographers and videographers realise their full potential by championing their work and celebrating their emerging talent. The Award will also nurture and encourage the winning individuals to develop and refine their practice for the future with two prizes given each year – one for stills photography and one for film. The winners will each receive a cash prize towards the cost of equipment or travel for their next project, and a one-on-one workshop tutorial with a leading photographic practitioner. More details will follow in the coming months.
You can view the Earth Photo shortlist, including the winning images, on the Earth Photo website, and at the Society in London until 26 August.
A selection of the shortlisted photos will also be shown at Forestry England forests including Moors Valley Country Park and Forest from 11 July to 19 September; Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest from 20 July to 10 October; Dalby Forest from 12 September to 1 January 2023; Haldon Forest Park from 3 October to 4 January 2023; Fineshade Wood from November to March 2023 and Grizedale Forest from 19 December to 23 April 2023.