2025 EXHIBITORS
Mikel Konate, Iberian Wildfires. Earthphoto 2025
Photographers:
Alvin Ng (Singapore) \ Ami Vitale (US) \ Ashane Marasinghe (Finland) \ Chiara Fabbro (UK) \ Filippo Ferraro (Italy) \ Ingrid Weyland (Argentina) \ Issam Chorrib (Morocco) \ Jason Florio (UK) \ Jonathan Browning (UK) \ Julia Gunther (Netherlands) \ Jussi Hellsten (Finland) \ Kazuaki Koseki (Japan) \ Liam Man (UK) \ Lorenzo Poli (UK) \ Mateo Borrero (Colombia) \ Mateo Caballero (Bolivia) \ Mikel Konate (Spain) \ Morag Paterson and Andrew Macqueen (UK) \ Nathalie Bertrams (Germany) \ Neal Haddaway (UK) \ Payal Kakkar (India) \ Romain Loubeyre (UAE) \ Sean Gallagher (UK) \ Shane Hynan (Ireland) \ Skander Khlif (Germany) \ Sue Flood (UK) \ Tamara Stubbs (UK) \ Ted Leeming (UK) \ Vincenzo Montefinese (Italy) \ Vivian Wan (USA )
Earth Photo announces its 2025 shortlist, featuring 203 powerful photographs and films by 40 outstanding photographers and filmmakers around the world.
Filmmakers:
Adam Sebire (Norway) \ Eugene Macki (UK) \ Elisa Alaluusua (UK/Finland) \ Miranda Barton (UK) \ Berta De La Rosa (Spain) \ Jonathan Goldberg (UK) \ Sophia Nasif (Maldives) \ Mohammad Rakibul Hasan and Fabeha Monir (Bangladesh)
Left: Iceberg Care // Right: A Future Without Sea Ice.
Adam Sebire
In this West Greenlandic Inuit community, placed well above the Arctic Circle at 70.7ºN, sea ice is under existential pressure from global heating, not freezing solid until months later than it used to. Many of its 1,400 indigenous residents recall dog-sledging across thickly-frozen sea ice to settlements dotting the fjord from December till May. In recent years that's changed dramatically. During filming, February-March 2024, there was barely a month of solid sea ice suitable for on-ice activities central to Inuit culture and survival, such as ice fishing, hunting and dog-sledge racing, before unseasonably warm winds and waves destroyed much of the fjord’s sea ice.
Sikorluppoq means "the sea ice is bad" (ie. less than 20cm thick and therefore unsafe) in Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic) dialect. It’s one of the many words describing the sea ice that youth from Uummannaq Children’s Home inscribe in the snow using hunters’ tooqs.
Sea ice at both of Earth’s poles faces a bleak outlook. Indeed the Arctic Ocean is now expected to begin experiencing ice-free in summers sometime between 2030 and 2050. The question for Greenland’s human and non-human inhabitants alike is, can we avert the loss of vital winter sea ice also through the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels?
Alvin Ng
Alvin Ng is a Southeast Asian photographic artist and educator based in Singapore. Like a dreamweaver, Alvin straddles realms of reality and fantasy, crafting works whose ethereal presence echoes whispers of ancient myths and the hidden magic in the everyday. His art evokes an entrancing allure that transcends temporal boundaries, inviting viewers to embark on a voyage towards the wonder of the worlds beyond the world.
The Sacred Seeds in Poets’ Souls
Within each of us dwells a god whose movements stir the soul and whose influence nurtures the seeds of sacred thought. For the artist, it is especially fitting to gaze upon divine visages, identifying with the poet’s role—one who sings of holy themes. Ovid’s Fasti is a visual journey where celestial lore and mythic tales converge, blending the beauty of the present with the otherworldly spirit of ancient Rome. Inspired by Ovid’s enigmatic poem Fasti, written during his exile in the Black Sea city of Tomis, the project transcends time, inviting viewers into a transformative exploration. Traversing scattered ruins and surreal landscapes, the artist becomes a vessel for forgotten whispers, guided by Ovid’s verses. Each hand-manipulated photograph captures a site that bridges past and present. Through this alchemical process, ancient wisdom fuses with contemporary vision, lifting the veil of time and conjuring a realm where myth, memory, and modernity converge in a symphony of wonder.
Alvin NG (Singapore), The Goddess of a Thousand Varied Flowers
Alvin NG (Singapore), Vestalia Nefastus
Alvin NG (Singapore), Endotercisus
Alvin NG (Singapore), Equirria Nefastus Publicus
Alvin NG (Singapore), The Sacred Seeds in Poets' Souls
Alvin NG (Singapore), The Doom of Chiron.
Alvin NG (Singapore), The Goddess of the Moon
Ami Vitale
Ami Vitale, National Geographic photographer, writer and filmmaker, has been creating unique conservation stories that amplify the work of communities on the frontlines of grassroots conservation. She has travelled to more than 100 countries, documenting the heartbreaking realities of war to witnessing the inspiring power of individuals making a difference. Throughout the years, Ami has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit— keeping true to her belief in the importance of “living the story.” Her award-winning work illuminates the unsung heroes and communities working to protect wildlife and finding harmony in our natural world. Her photographs have been commissioned by nearly every international publication and exhibited around the world in museums and galleries.
Pandamonium
At Wolong’s Hetaoping center in Sichuan Province, panda cubs are raised with minimal human contact, including rare hands-on checkups, in hopes of fostering skills for life in the wild. The center’s breeding and release programs aim to augment panda populations and protect habitats, working toward saving this iconic species and restoring the wild within it. The loss of 73 percent of the world’s wildlife in the past fifty years underscores the urgent biodiversity crisis we face. This stark reality demands action, as the future of our planet depends on it. Photographs have the power to cut through apathy, capturing raw realities that evoke empathy and inspire action. Through visual storytelling, we reconnect with nature, highlighting not only its threats but also the hope and potential for recovery that surrounds us.
Ami Vitale, A Hopeful Sign
Ami Vitale, Pandamonium
Ami Vitale, The Future is in Our Hands
Ami Vitale, Lekupinai and Twiga
Ami Vitale, Mary and her Orphan
Ami Vitale, Rhino Resurrection
Ashane Marasinghe
Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and currently based in Finland, Ashane Marasinghe is an internationally recognised photographer. He began his career in aviation before turning to photography in 2013, when he joined the National Association of Photographers Sri Lanka and completed a Diploma in Advanced Photography. His work spans multiple genres and reflects a deep curiosity about the natural world.
He holds the EFIAP/b distinction from the Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique (France), and his photographs have been featured in National Geographic Italia, GEO Magazine (Germany), and others. Awards include BigPicture (California Academy of Sciences, 2021), Nature’s Best Photography (USA, 2024), and Bird Photographer of the Year (UK, 2021).
Salvage
Scavengers of the Anthropocene. Amid the sprawling expanse of the Kerawalapitiya Waste Disposal Plant in Sri Lanka, Egrets—graceful and elegant water birds—can be seen salvaging food from the refuse. Though seemingly commonplace, this unsettling sight reveals a deeper ecological crisis. Their habitual foraging in landfills exposes these birds to toxic substances, pathogens, and contaminants, posing serious risks to their health, reproductive success, and long-term survival. This behaviour also reflects the profound entanglement of wildlife with human waste systems—an increasingly visible symptom of environmental imbalance. One of twelve major dumps in the country, Kerawalapitiya has become a stark symbol of the Anthropocene, where the boundaries between natural and artificial habitats collapse. This photograph invites viewers to reflect on the consequences of unchecked consumption and waste, and the silent adaptations wildlife must make to survive within it.
Ashane Marasinghe, Salvage.
Berta De La Rosa
Berta is a Spanish-born interdisciplinary artist that lives and works between London and Seville. She holds a BA degree in Fine Arts and a MA in Photography by Central Saint Martins School of Arts, London. Her work as a visual artist advocates the protection of the Mediterranean traditions rooted in the figure of the olive tree. Berta’s playful approach to photography integrates a wide variety of techniques and materials which articulate the stories in a genuine way. Her installations outline the importance of preserving handcraft processes involved in agriculture to promote a sustainable use of the land and a harmonious interaction with nature. Since 2013, she has devoted her work to her lifelong project Getsemaní. Driven by her love for nature, in 2024 she partnered with artist Emma Vázquez Costa to create The Biophiles . This artistic initiative is a collection of photographs, texts, and videos weaved into journals to imaginary worlds. Each of these journeys aims to illuminate the beauty of our planet as a spiritual element that brings connection and fulfilment to our lives.
Getsemaní
Getsemaní is an artistic project which advocates the protection of Mediterranean traditions rooted in the figure of the olive tree. This project aims to bring awareness of the importance of preserving handcraft processes involved in agriculture to promote a sustainable use of the land and a harmonious interaction with nature. Agriculture is the foundation upon which human civilization has grown. It has played a vital role in the development of every community on Earth. Yet today, its importance is too often overlooked and undervalued. My mission with this lifelong project, rooted in environmental sustainability, is to give a voice through the figure of the olive tree -as a universal tree, a tree of hope- to all our trees. And by doing so, I hope to safeguard our landscapes and reinstate the dignity of agricultural labor.
Chiara Fabbro
The last people of the Accursed Mountains
This project documents what may be the final generation of shepherds living in the remote highlands of the Accursed Mountains, a dramatic range spanning Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro. In these isolated landscapes, shepherds spend the warmer months tending livestock, making cheese, and foraging herbs—preserving a centuries-old way of life far removed from modernity.
However, climate change and shifting values among younger generations threaten the future of this tradition. Drought reduces water sources and grazing lands, forcing flocks to travel farther. In 2023, UNESCO recognised transhumance—the seasonal movement of herders and their animals—as intangible cultural heritage. This practice sustains biodiversity, supports rural economies, and embodies a deep environmental knowledge.
As the new generation turns away from mountain life, the survival of this ancestral practice hangs in the balance.
Chiara Fabbro is an Italian documentary photographer based in London. Her work focuses on migration, displacement, and human connection, with projects spanning Malaysia, the Balkans, and the Canary Islands. Her photography has appeared in Al Jazeera English, Balkan Insight, and Altreconomia, and been commissioned by NGOs including Refugee Rights Europe.
Fabbro received the 2021 Portrait of Humanity award and was shortlisted for the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage and IWPA Awards. Her exhibitions include Finding Home (2022), Scars and Solidarity (2023), and Along the Border (2024), which opened alongside Sebastião Salgado’s Exodus.
Elisa Alaluusua is a visual artist working with video and drawing. She has returned home to rural Lapland after working for two decades as an artist in London and credits these distinct life experiences as a continuing inspiration. She describes her artistic practice as drawing an invisible line between her two homes: the reindeer farm in the village of Luusua near the Arctic Circle in Finland and London.
Elisa Alaluusua
Another April Day at the Arctic Circle
This is a short story of an ordinary day at the Arctic Circle area in Lapland, Finland. What do you do when 100 reindeer escape? I come from a family of reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland, near the Arctic Circle area. This was another day when 100 escaped reindeer needed to be brought back to the home enclosure.
Eugene Macki
Created between 2019 and 2022, these works reflect the ongoing practice of a London-based sculptor and performance artist whose research-led approach takes them across the globe. Fascinated by the interplay between objects, humans, and land, the artist investigates how meaning emerges through these relationships. Central to their work is the notion of occupancy—what it means to inhabit space—and a deep attentiveness to the construction of place: the positioning of trees, built forms, and the subtle dynamics between natural and human-made elements. Through sculpture and performance, they create and document fleeting moments that reveal the character and emotional resonance of specific environments.
Heataly 01
A cross-country ski trail winds through a completely snow-free forest. Today, 90% of Italy’s ski slopes rely on artificial snowmaking systems, consuming an estimated 96,840,000 cubic meters of water annually—the equivalent of a city of one million people. Surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Italy lies at the heart of a climate change hotspot, as identified by the latest IPCC reports. With warming trends exceeding the global average by 20%, the country offers a crucial vantage point for observing and understanding the rapid transformations reshaping our world. Conceived as the first chapter of a broader long-term project, Heataly—a title blending "Heat" and "Italy"—offers a privileged lens into this evolving reality. By exploring the landscape as a reflection of the society that inhabits it, the work investigates the often-conflictual relationship between humans and the environment, a tension at the core of the global climate crisis. While adopting a documentary approach, this photo essay is not merely a report but a visual commentary, inviting reflection on the path we are following and the choices we must confront. More than an archive of climate disasters, Heataly seeks to paint a broader fresco of the transformations underway in a country learning to adapt to a warmer world.
Filippo Ferraro
Filippo Ferraro (b. 1990) is an Italian documentary photographer. After earning a law degree, he decided to pursue a career in photography. His work explores the dynamic evolution of the relationship between humans and the environment within the context of the global climate crisis, with a special focus on collective cultural identity and its transformations. Over the years his work has received prestigious recognition, including the Earth Photo Award, and has been published in international outlets such as Newsweek Japan. His photographs have been selected for festivals and screenings around the world and exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Europe, America, Asia, and Africa
Ingrid Weyland
Ingrid Weyland is an Argentinian artist whose background in architecture and sculpture led her to study graphic design at the University of Buenos Aires. She founded B/W Design before shifting her focus to photography in 2011, honing her craft through workshops with notable mentors including Ana Sánchez Zinny, Julieta Escardó, and Verónica Fieiras. Her practice has evolved from portraiture to an immersive exploration of landscapes across continents.
Weyland’s work has been recognized internationally, with honors from Decade of Change (1854/British Journal of Photography), Exposure Photo Festival (Canada), and the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize (UK). She has been a finalist for awards including the Discovery Awards (Encontros da Imagem), LensCulture Critics’ Choice, the Aesthetica Art Prize, and Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50. In 2023, she was the Americas winner of the Saatchi Art for Change Prize.
In the series Topographies of Fragility, the artist enacts violent gestures upon a landscape captured in a photograph, which is then laid over the untouched original image. This intervention on the printed paper allows the artist to reflect on the permanent and irreversible traces of their actions, offering a poetic allusion to humanity’s relationship with the planet. A crumpled piece of paper, like nature itself, can never regain its original form—its trace persists. Nature, once disrespected and invaded, is often irreparably broken. For the Weyland, as for many, immersion in nature’s majestic scale erases the sense of time and place, offering a space for connection and introspection. Yet, this sanctuary is increasingly fragile. Topographies of Fragility explores this vulnerability through collaborations in the Amazon and northern Argentina’s Atlantic rainforest. Working with individuals whose lives are deeply connected to nature, the artist captured their reflections on the fragility of the environment. This ongoing project calls attention to the urgent need for restoration, urging a future defined by harmony and sustainable action.
La Hepica – Consumed Living Spaces, captures a turning point where nature and human impact collide—a forest once used for leisure and reflection now consumed by fire. Part of the series La Hepica – Consumed Living Spaces, the image underscores the increasing fragility of ecosystems in the face of climate change. Prolonged droughts and environmental mismanagement have rendered landscapes like La Hepica especially vulnerable to wildfires. Once a sanctuary of biodiversity and calm, its scorched remains now serve as a stark warning of what we risk losing. Through this visual narrative, the series invites viewers to reflect on humanity’s role in accelerating environmental collapse and urges collective action to protect the living spaces we still have—before they are gone.
Issam Chorrib
Issam Chorrib is a Moroccan photojournalist, street, and documentary photographer based in Casablanca. At 23, he has already established himself as a compelling visual storyteller, blending his creative eye with a strong sense of social engagement.Trippin
Chorrib began his photographic journey through volunteer work with university-based NGOs such as JLM, Sustainable Youth, Yed Lkheir, and the Laracultura Association. These early experiences shaped his documentary approach, focusing on everyday life and social realities in Morocco. His work often captures candid moments in urban environments, reflecting the textures and rhythms of Moroccan street life. One of his photographs, "A Girl in the Street," taken in Casablanca, was featured in the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest, highlighting his ability to find poignant beauty in ordinary scenes.
Chorrib represents a new generation of Moroccan creatives using visual media to document and reframe contemporary life from within. His work offers a fresh, authentic perspective on Moroccan culture, identity, and social change.
Jason Florio
Jason Florio, award-winning photojournalist, filmmaker and educator originally from London, based in NYC for 18 years before relocating to The Gambia, West Africa, in 2013. He has produced images and documentaries for clients including The New York Times, Smithsonian, The New Yorker, Men’s, Journal, Outside, Bloomberg, National Geographic, Geographical, MIT Technology Review, PepsiCo, Amnesty International and the World Bank. He is a contributing editor for the Virginia Quarterly Review.
His focus has been towards under-reported stories about people living on the margins of society and human rights. His work has been recognised with a number of awards, including The Magnum Photography Award for his work on migration. He was the first recipient of the Aperture Foundation grant to produce Aperture’s first ever assigned story, ‘This is Libya’. His work is held in a number of public and private collections and has been presented in solo and joint exhibitions in USA, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Stewards of the Mangroves
Fatou checks oysters grown on strings at a farm in the shallows of the River Gambia—an eco-friendly solution to overharvesting and mangrove destruction. These oyster farms near the women’s Tenda (wharf) reduce pressure on mangroves, which are vital carbon sinks, storing up to ten times more carbon than forests while supporting marine life and local livelihoods. The TRY Oyster Women Association leads efforts to protect and restore mangroves, which were once threatened by unchecked harvesting and deforestation.
Through initiatives by TRY and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), local women have become stewards of the mangroves, preserving branches and preventing illegal cutting for firewood. TRY also drives reforestation, planting over 50,000 mangrove seedlings as part of a UNDP-funded project. In 2011, they introduced sustainable harvesting practices, including a closed season from March to June and minimum oyster size regulations. To reduce pressure on mangroves, the women also established farms where oysters are grown on strings.
By protecting and restoring mangroves, TRY’s work is a critical solution in the fight against climate change, ensuring carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.
Jonathan Goldberg
On a quiet island along the River Thames, a mother and daughter set about building the eco-home of their dreams. As their house takes shape, they reflect on life lived in close connection with the river and the rhythms of island life. Thames Islands is a photographic project exploring the lesser-known islands of the Thames through the stories of their inhabitants and their deep relationship with the water. From a Pagan marking the festival of Beltane, to a community of wild swimmers, and a family embracing sustainable living, the project offers intimate glimpses into alternative ways of life shaped by the river’s presence. These portraits reveal the quiet resilience, ritual, and reverence found on the Thames' hidden isles
Jonathan Goldberg (b1973) is a London-based photographer whose personal work explores man’s relationship with the environment. In 2022 he was awarded Arts Council England funding for his project Estuary Hopes, Upstream Dreams, an exploration into the islands of the River Thames through the media of photography and film. The project toured to Henley’s River and Rowing Museum from May 2023, and will reach out to a diverse section of the riverside population through numerous workshops, presentations and collaborations. Prior to Estuary Hopes, Upstream Dreams Goldberg was selected as the Photographer in Residence with the Canal and River Trust (2019), a series which took in the people and landscapes of the canal, and culminated in an exhibition at the National Waterways Museum in Cheshire. In 2016 Goldberg’s long-term project The Runway Stops Here was published in the National Geographic. The work documents the lives of eco-activists living next to Heathrow Airport.
La Palma Series
What does it mean to start again on scorched earth? Canu Martin-Mur, 67, from Spain, had to remove lava that broke through her garden walls destroying mature palm trees. She has since rebuilt the wall, laid down an artificial lawn, and planted new palms and other plants to encourage regrowth. La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, remains marked by the 2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption. Taken in January 2024, Paradise to Ashes explores the lasting impact of the 2021 eruption on the island’s landscape and communities. The series documents the transformed terrain—vast fields of black rock, lingering toxic gases, and ongoing environmental instability that continues to shape La Palma’s and its residents. Beyond the physical devastation, the series focuses on the human experience, highlighting resilience, loss, and adaptation in the face of profound change. Serving as a visual record of nature’s power and its deep, ongoing consequences for those affected.
Jonathan Browning
Jonathan Browning is a Brighton and London-based documentary and commercial photographer known for his compelling visual storytelling. His recent project, "Paradise to Ashes – La Palma," captures the aftermath of the 2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption on the Canary Island of La Palma. In January 2024, Browning spent a week documenting the transformed landscapes and the resilience of the island's residents. His work has been featured in publications such as De Volkskrant, The Telegraph Magazine, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Good Weekend Magazine.
Browning's photography offers a nuanced perspective on the long-term impacts of natural disasters, highlighting both devastation and human adaptability. His La Palma series has been recognised as a finalist in the 2024 AOP Photography Awards in the Documentary category.
Julia Gunther
Julia Gunther is a German photo artist who specialises in documentary projects. Her work explores themes of representation, gender, visual identity and social activism, specifically, the role of women in society.
Julia’s work has been featured in international publications such as the New York Times Magazine, TIME, The Independent, NPR, Marie Claire, Dazed and WIRED. Her photography has been exhibited in, amongst others, New York, Washington D.C, Los Angeles, Cape Town, Cologne, Milan, London, Seoul and Amsterdam, and has been selected for exhibitions and festivals around the world.
Her photography has won awards at the Wellcome Photography Prize, The New York Photo Festival, and the LensCulture Exposure Awards, has been shown as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize exhibition, and has been shortlisted for the Gomma Grant, Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize and Felix Schoeller Photography Award.
Brenda
On Gough Island, one of the world’s most remote outposts, Fulufhelo Brenda Khobo of the South African Weather Service prepares to launch a weather balloon. As part of the South African National Antarctic Programme, Brenda spent a year here—collecting critical upper-air data on temperature, humidity, and pressure. Her work continues a decades-long legacy of atmospheric research on Gough, which, despite its isolation, plays a vital role in global weather forecasting and climate modelling.
Stations like Gough are rare: rugged, remote, and essential. The data gathered informs maritime forecasts for Cape Town, enhances global climate models, and improves the safety of ships navigating the stormy South Atlantic. Though far from the public eye, the island's contributions ripple across the world.
This image was taken during a 10-month reporting embed on Tristan da Cunha, the planet’s most remote inhabited island, as part of a personal project supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Kyoto Protocol
Iceland, once 40% forested, today has only about 1.5% forest cover. Efforts to restore its forests are vital to its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040, but face challenges from limited resources, soil erosion, climate change, overgrazing, and the growing demands of tourism. Tourism in Iceland has skyrocketed in the past decade, but emissions from travel are not counted in national inventories under the Kyoto Protocol, complicating the country’s climate efforts. Since 2021, I have documented the intersection of tourism and reforestation in Iceland using digital infrared photography, a tool commonly employed to assess forest health. The technique reveals hidden aspects of the landscape, offering a deeper perspective on the fragile balance between environmental restoration and economic survival. Millions of tree seedlings are grown annually at nurseries like Kvistari, with volunteers playing an essential role in planting and restoring the country's landscapes.
Jussi Hellsten
Jussi Hellsten is an award-winning photographer and director based in Helsinki, Finland, specializing in commercial photography with a focus on lifestyle and still life. His work is characterized by a blend of precision and curiosity, capturing the essence of everyday moments with a refined aesthetic. Hellsten has collaborated with a diverse range of clients, including Finnair, IKEA, Polar, Sanoma, and the City of Helsinki. In 2012, he undertook the "Helsinki 365" project, photographing the city daily for a year, offering a poetic and nuanced portrayal of urban life. His portfolio showcases his versatility across photography, cinematography, and film editing, reflecting his commitment to visual storytelling.
Kazuaki Koseki
Kazuaki Koseki (b. 1977, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan) is a contemporary nature photographer and visual anthropologist whose work explores the deep connections between people, landscapes, and the passage of time. Raised in his family's photo studio, which he now operates, Koseki has been immersed in photography since childhood. His artistic practice centres on the natural environments of Yamagata and the broader Tōhoku region, capturing the essence of mountains, forests, and rivers through the lens of Japan’s four distinct seasons.
Koseki’s acclaimed series, Summer Fairies, documents the fleeting glow of himebotaru (princess fireflies) in the summer forests of Yamagata. Employing long-exposure techniques, he layers the fireflies' light trails to create ethereal images that evoke both wonder and ecological awareness. This body of work reflects his commitment to capturing the delicate interplay between nature and human perception.
His photography has garnered international recognition, with honours including the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021, LensCulture Critics’ Choice Top 10 in 2024, and the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 Professional Shortlist. His work has been exhibited at venues such as the Natural History Museum in London, the World Economic Forum in Davos, and the California Academy of Sciences. In 2022, he published the art book Forest of Misty Vision through TOSEI Publishing Co.
Through his immersive approach, Koseki invites viewers to experience the spiritual and sensory richness of Japan’s natural world, offering a poignant reflection on its fragility and enduring beauty.
Hotarubi – Summer Fairies
Hotarubi – Summer Fairies explores the delicate presence of Himebotaru fireflies in the summer forests of Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Captured after an unusually warm, snowless winter, these fireflies appeared in record numbers—suggesting a preference for warmer conditions and highlighting shifts linked to climate change. The fireflies’ brief, radiant glow—just ten days—evokes the ephemeral beauty of life and the ancient reverence for nature embedded in Japan’s Shinto beliefs. The forests they inhabit range from replanted areas to fragments of untouched woodland, all marked by the tension between tradition, development, and environmental decline. Over years of observation, the artist has documented this phenomenon not only as a scientific process but also as an emotional and spiritual experience. The resulting images serve as both a celebration of natural wonder and a meditation on ecological fragility—where the flickering trails of fireflies illuminate urgent questions about climate, conservation, and our place within the natural world.
Tattered Shreds
Carcass of the Ice Beast (Image 3 from The Icebreaker Project) anthropomorphizes the Rhone Glacier, once home to Europe’s largest man made ice cave. In 2009, thermally reflective blankets were used to slow its melting—covering five acres to deflect infrared radiation. Today, those coverings hang in tatters, like the torn skin of a dying giant. Captured at night using aerial lighting rigs, this image reveals a haunting, broken landscape—both a tribute to human effort and a sobering reminder of its limits. Despite the dedication of a few, their interventions could not halt the glacier’s retreat. This image underscores a critical truth: climate change cannot be solved through isolated actions alone. With glaciers globally losing 267 billion metric tons of ice annually, a unified global response is urgent. Icebreaker invites us to witness the cryosphere’s beauty—and its vulnerability—before these frozen leviathans vanish forever.
Liam Man
Liam Man is a UK-based visual artist and photographer renowned for his innovative use of light to explore the fragile beauty of Earth's landscapes. Specialising in nocturnal photography and aerial light painting, he employs custom-built LED drone systems and long-exposure techniques to unveil intricate details often hidden in daylight. His work seamlessly blends artistic precision with environmental advocacy, offering surreal yet grounded visions that challenge our perception of the natural world.
In 2024, Man launched the "Icebreaker" project, an initiative endorsed by UNESCO in support of the United Nations' International Year of Glacier Preservation 2025. This series captures the changing cryosphere—from Iceland's frozen lagoons to Chilean Patagonia's glaciers—using light painting to highlight the impacts of climate change. The project serves as a compelling call to awareness and action.
Man's dedication to pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling has earned him significant recognition. He was awarded the title of Open Photographer of the Year at the 2024 Sony World Photography Awards and is a Sony Imaging Ambassador. His work has been featured in exhibitions and publications worldwide, including the Fine Art Photography Awards, where his series "Bones of Stone" was a nominee in the Night category.
Through his art, Liam Man invites viewers to experience the world in a new light, fostering a deeper connection to the environment and inspiring collective responsibility for its preservation.
Lorenzo Poli
Geoglyphs of the Anthropocene
The gridded impermanence of extractive cycles, overpowering life and death. The cemetery and the abandoned miners' town are being gradually swallowed by the unrelenting expansion of extractive endeavours. Chuquicamata is the second-largest open-pit copper mine in the world by excavated volume, and one of the deepest, plunging nearly 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) into the Earth. Copper extraction at this site has persisted for over a century. Today, its global demand is expected to increase by approximately 70% by 2050, driven by its role as a critical primary element in the transition to renewable energy—powering electrification, battery storage, and grid infrastructure.
Lorenzo Poli is an Italian photographer and former architect whose work explores the relationship between humans and nature. Born in Rome in 1976, he spent over a decade designing sustainable architecture before shifting to photography full-time in 2021. His award-winning work, including the Sony World Photography Award for “Life on Earth,” focuses on rewilding, biodiversity, and ecological awareness. Poli collaborates with scientific and environmental institutions and uses his photography to inspire a deeper, biocentric connection to the natural world.
Mateo Borrero is a Colombian photographer and engineer whose work explores the intersection of travel, architecture, and everyday life. Based in Bogotá, Borrero captures the beauty and complexity of urban and natural environments, often highlighting overlooked details through his lens. His portfolio includes series on animals, miniatures, people, urban scenes, and landscapes, showcasing a diverse range of subjects and styles. Mateo Borrero Fotográfo
Borrero's photography has been featured on platforms such as The Independent Photographer, where his work has gained international recognition. He shares his visual narratives on Instagram, offering glimpses into his travels and creative process.
Mateo Borrero
Waterline
A Ticuna man stands beside a 500-year-old Ceiba tree in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. The tree bears water lines that mark the typical height of the river during the rainy season, which usually peaks between April and May. This photograph, taken in May 2024, shows that the water level should have been at its maximum; however, rainfall was scarce and by the peak of the rainy season non-existent. The drought of 2024 broke historical records along the Amazon River, with devastating consequences for wildlife and local communities threatening the lifeblood of the rainforest.
Mateo Caballero
Whisper of the Forest reflects on loss, resilience, and repair in the face of environmental destruction. The project begins with photographs taken by the artist in the Bolivian forests of TCO Tacana II in 2014, landscapes now threatened by fire and deforestation. These images are reprinted using cyanotype, transforming them into traces of what once was. Sashiko embroidery, a traditional Japanese mending technique, serves as an act of symbolic repair. Each stitch is a gesture of care, connecting time, loss, and memory. In some pieces, the embroidery covers the image, not to erase it, but to protect what remains. The work emphasises continuity over mourning, reaffirming the link between past and present. Rather than documenting the fires, the series reflects on the forests before their disappearance, highlighting the fragile state of South American ecosystems. Each piece’s back bears a silent imprint of persistence, a testament to the urgency of protecting what endures.
Mateo Caballero is a Bolivian visual artist, photographer, and musician. His artistic practice explores the connections between memory, community, and image through processes that combine photography, embroidery, and other manual interventions. Inspired by the connections between art, nature, and the spiritual, Mateo uses materials and techniques that dialogue with time, transforming the image into a space for reflection, care, and affection.
His work stems from a deep fascination with creative processes and the symbolic meaning of the tools of creation. Each project reflects her interest in exploring personal and collective narratives, recognising the fragility of the world we inhabit and our capacity to imagine new paths.
Mikel Konate (Spain) #70157
In the municipality of Andújar, Jaén Province, Spain, forest firefighters from BRICA B402 and B404 of Granada battle a blaze—one of many increasingly frequent wildfires sweeping across the Iberian Peninsula. Wildfires in the Iberian Peninsula is a photographic project documenting the escalating impact of wildfires in Spain and Portugal, intensified by rising temperatures and prolonged droughts linked to climate change. The series captures not only scorched landscapes but also the profound toll on communities, wildlife, and ecosystems. Each image serves as a testament to both devastation and resilience, offering a visual narrative of a region in crisis. This body of work seeks to raise awareness of the urgent need for climate action and more sustainable environmental practices. Through these photographs, the artist calls for reflection, dialogue, and collective responsibility, aiming to inspire engagement with the critical challenges posed by climate change and the imperative to protect our shared natural heritage.
Mikel Konate
Mikel Konate is a freelance video and photojournalist whose work focuses on migration, armed conflicts, and climate crisis. Over the years, he has produced stories for international agencies like Reuters and The Associated Press; various national and international broadcasters such as BBC, PBS, ABC, CNN, Euronews, La Sexta, Eldiario.es; and NGOs like UNHCR, HRW, CEAR, and ECCHR. His work has appeared in numerous international media outlets, including The New York Times, CBS, NBC, The Guardian, Channel 4, Arte, France 24, and Al Jazeera, among others. He have been awarded the Rory Peck Trust Award for News in 2018 for his coverage in the Central Mediterranean and was a finalist in 2019 for his coverage in northern Syria. Currently, he collaborates with the BBC, ABC, and is the co-founder of Sonda Internacional.
Miranda Barton
Miranda Barton is a UK-based artist and art psychotherapist whose work explores themes of belonging, memory, and the human relationship with the natural world. Drawing from her background in fine arts and psychotherapy, Barton creates immersive, site-responsive installations that invite audiences into reflective states. Her practice often incorporates materials like brown kraft paper and employs the silhouette as a visual device to examine the intersections of identity, history, and environment.
One of her notable works, Soft Fascination, featured on the University of the Arts London Showcase, aims to induce a state of 'soft fascination' by sharing personal experiences of the sea. Through this piece, Barton seeks to engage viewers in a contemplative experience that connects them to the transient beauty of the natural world.
Soft Fascination.
This project invites the viewer into a state of ‘soft fascination,’ a term coined by Kaplan to describe the gentle, immersive attention evoked by nature—such as gazing at a landscape or an artwork—that allows space for reflection. Through underwater photography, the artist shares personal encounters with the sea, aiming to convey the sensory and emotional effects of immersion in water. Using an Olympus TG-6 camera, the photographs capture the transition from rational calm to creative inspiration that often arises while submerged. Water is known to stimulate the production of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin—chemicals linked to wellbeing. Influenced by lifelong experiences in swimming pools, rivers in the South of France, and the beaches of Salcombe in South Devon—where the photographic journey began—the artist selects images that evoke memory and sensation. These works aim not only to reflect the underwater experience but also to communicate its restorative power to the viewer.
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan and Fabeha Monir emerge as formidable forces, united by their shared commitment to humanitarian storytelling. Hasan, a Bangladeshi-born multifaceted practitioner, brings over two decades of experience in photography, filmmaking, and visual arts, capturing pressing human rights, social development, and environmental issues worldwide. His journey through prestigious institutions such as the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York, Falmouth University in the UK, and Oxford University has shaped his profound understanding of visual narratives. Hasan's work, recognized by the Lucie Award, One World Media Awards, and over two hundred other accolades, has been a testament to his dedication to amplifying the voices of the marginalized.
Fabeha Monir, a distinguished visual journalist from Bangladesh, complements this narrative with her evocative storytelling through still imagery, text, and video. Her work, deeply rooted in humanism, explores social development, migration, gender violence, and forced exile, shedding light on the often-overlooked stories of marginalized communities. Educated at Ateneo de Manila University and the International Center of Photography, Monir's portfolio includes collaborations with global giants like The New York Times, The Guardian, and BBC News. Her innovative spirit has led her to co-create immersive narratives on the Rohingya refugee experience, further expanding her impact.
Together, Hasan and Fabeha have created a body of work that resonates globally, from the serene landscapes of Switzerland to the bustling streets of Dhaka. Their films and photographs, showcased in international festivals and exhibitions, offer a powerful lens on the human condition. Both filmmakers, with their roots in Bangladeshi culture, have not only documented crises but also brought to light stories of resilience, ensuring that the voices of those in need are heard on a global stage.
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan & Fabeha Monir (Bangladesh)
The Taste of Honey. In the Sundarbans—the world’s largest mangrove forest—Shorbanu Khatun lives with the legacy of loss. After a tiger killed her husband, she joined the ranks of the "tiger widows," women ostracized by their communities and blamed for misfortune. Climate change has only deepened her hardship: rising sea levels, intensified cyclones, and salinized soil have made farming and freshwater increasingly scarce. To support her children, Shorbanu ventures into the dangerous forest to collect honey and Gol leaves, risking encounters with wild animals, pirates, and crippling debt. Yet, she finds strength in solidarity with other widows and in her devotion to Bonbibi, the forest goddess believed to offer protection. As the environment deteriorates and traditional ways of life disappear, Shorbanu’s story becomes a powerful symbol of resilience. Her bond with the Sundarbans speaks to the urgent need for climate justice and the preservation of vulnerable ecosystems and communities.
Morag Paterson and Andrew Macqueen
Curious Conversations is a year-long interdisciplinary residency bringing together artist Morag Paterson and forest manager Andrew Macqueen at Crofthead. Rooted in conversation and observation, the project explores a mixed commercial forest in Dumfries and Galloway, from multiple perspectives, including ecology, management, culture and policy. One of the most exciting experiments so far stemmed from a discussion about the ‘aero biome’ - the invisible cloud of microbes surrounding tree leaves that may help protect against pathogens. Inspired by this, Morag and Andrew collaborated with ASCUS Labs in Edinburgh to explore how they could learn more about the airborne microbial life within the forest. Using handmade “settle plates” coated with sticky nutrient-rich mixtures, they collected microorganisms from 11 locations. The results were striking—an intricate tapestry of fungi and bacteria emerged, revealing the unseen biodiversity of the forest’s air. The images showcase an array of fungal colonies with varied textures, from delicate filaments to dense clusters, richly coloured. Bacterial growth appears as smaller, smoother, often more vibrant formations, adding another layer of complexity. This project highlights the hidden microbial world we interact with daily and raises questions about its role in forest health and perhaps our own. As Morag and Andrew continue their exploration, they hope to foster a deeper connection with both the seen and unseen web of life shaping our forests and woodlands. The titles are working titles, and there are many more photos in the series. The images have joint copyright: Morag Paterson and Andrew Macqueen. Project funded by DG Woodlands and EcoArtCharity.
Forest Air- Clearfell and Heather I
This photograph captures a section of microbial growth from a settle plate at a clearfell and heather forest site, taken after five weeks. Curious Conversations is a year-long interdisciplinary residency bringing together artist Morag Paterson and forest manager Andrew Macqueen at Crofthead. Focused on a mixed commercial forest in Dumfries and Galloway, the project explores ecology, management, culture, and policy from multiple perspectives. One of the most exciting experiments emerged from a conversation about the ‘aero biome’—the invisible cloud of microbes surrounding tree leaves that may protect against pathogens. Collaborating with ASCUS Labs in Edinburgh, they used handmade “settle plates” to collect airborne microorganisms from 11 forest locations. The results revealed a stunning array of fungi and bacteria, highlighting the unseen biodiversity of the forest’s air. This project emphasizes the hidden microbial world and its role in forest health and our connection to it.
Series- The Silent Killer
An aerial view of Johannesburg’s largest gold mine dump, towering c.100 meters, looms over Snake Park, a township in Soweto, South Africa. The Witwatersrand Basin has produced over two billion ounces of gold, leaving behind 200 kilograms of waste for every gram extracted. A third of the world’s gold lies beneath Johannesburg, yet more than a century of mining has scarred the landscape, with 600 massive waste heaps around Soweto, containing toxic heavy metals such as cyanide, mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and uranium.
The wind blows, spreading contaminated dust to neighborhoods like Snake Park and Riverlea, seeping into homes, polluting the air, water, and soil, and turning daily life into a constant struggle. Toxic exposures have triggered a health crisis, leading to respiratory diseases, skin conditions, and severe developmental disorders such as cerebral palsy in children. For these already disadvantaged communities, mining waste deepens poverty and exacerbates social inequality across generations.
Nathalie Bertrams
Nathalie Bertrams is a documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer reporting on environmental conflict, resource extraction and human rights, mainly across Africa. She is a regular contributor to Süddeutsche Zeitung, De Groene Amsterdammer and Al Jazeera and is featured in El País, The Guardian, BBC News, Mongabay and Washington Post Magazine. She also makes TV documentaries for Arte/ZDF. She has received multiple grants and awards for her storytelling and is a member of the International Press Institute, Frontline Freelance Register and Women Photograph.
Neal Haddaway
Self-portrait & Enumerating the pain
Each May, tens of thousands of sable shearwater chicks leave Lord Howe Island, launching into a life at sea. But today, many never make it beyond the shore. Their fragile bodies, once nurtured for 90 days, are now weighed down by plastic—fed unknowingly by parents who mistake it for food.
World of Wounds bears witness to this silent tragedy. Working alongside Adrift Lab researchers, the project captures the grief and resilience found in one of Earth's most remote places. Since 2007, more than 16 kilograms of plastic have been recovered from dead chicks—haunting proof of human impact in distant waters.
Inspired by Aldo Leopold’s reflections on ecological loss, World of Wounds looks beyond scientific data to the emotional burden carried by conservationists. It invites viewers to reckon with a crisis that feels at once distant and deeply personal, calling for reflection, responsibility, and hope amid the wounds we have made.
Neal Haddaway is an environmental photographer and researcher from the UK. He has a PhD in conservation biology and has spent 15 years conducting research in environmental science in the science-policy interface. After a 20-year career in academia, he became frustrated by the gap between science and the public, and turned his attention to photography as a medium for societal change.
His photographic practice is anchored in deep foundations of research and evidence, and explores the role that contemporary human society plays in the destruction of nature, and the emotional toll caused by a scientific awareness of the impending planetary crises.
The project “Hope? and how to grieve for the planet” explores the emotions experienced by environmental scientists in the face of a dying planet and was selected for solo exhibitions at the UN Stockholm50+ conference (June 2022) and at the Royal Geographical Society (June 2023). His images have been shortlisted for the EarthPhoto Prize in 2023 and 2025.
His photojournalism work has been published in magazines (including New Scientist, Artefact, Nextblue, Untold Magazine, and Anthroposphere), and his photographs have been used by major media outlets, including The Times, The Evening Standard, and The Daily Mail. In 2023, his shortlisted image for the Earth Photo prize was featured in The Guardian. He has also published various popular science articles on the topic of research standards and climate and mental health. He currently writes for The New Climate.
Neal’s current work focuses on the social-ecological impacts of food imperialism (the continued control of the world’s poorest people through food supply chains), most recently in an ongoing project that explores the environmental and social costs of European demand for low-cost, year-round fruit and vegetables in the vast plastic greenhouses of Almería.
Woman Protestors of Majhauli Paath
Photographed on October 27, 2023, Khairwar Indigenous women from the village of Majhauli Paath in Singrauli, India, pose in protest beside the overburden (OB) dump of the rapidly expanding Suliyari coal mine. Living just 50 metres from the site, these women have led Gandhian-style sit-ins for over two years, demanding fair compensation for their land. The OB dump grows daily, threatening to engulf their homes. Inspired by their resistance, neighbouring villages like Basi Bredah and communities in the Ameliya Forest have joined the call for justice. This work explores landscapes transformed by extraction, drawing attention to the impact of overconsumption on marginalized communities and ecosystems. In Singrauli, Goa, Kutch, and Sambhar Lake, the images document deforestation, pollution, displacement, and climate vulnerability. Through film and photography, the project is an activist statement—urging collective responsibility, environmental justice, and a reimagined relationship with the land and those most affected by its exploitation.
Payal Kakkar
Payal Kakkar (b. 1975) is a self-taught artist using the camera as an activist tool that blurs the lines between documentary and art photography. She lives in Delhi and since 2014 has lived part of the year in Goa. She currently uses a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera with a Canon 24-105mm lens and a DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone Quadcopter with Hasselblad camera. Her earlier work explored the temples of Angkor Wat and the churches of Goa, exploiting unusual angles, viewpoints, and digital manipulation to reflect not what is seen but what is felt.
The 2018 Kerala floods were a wake-up call and pushed her to study the human impact on ecosystems. Since then, she has used her photographic practice to have a more immediate impact on conservation efforts, often working alongside environmental and community activists. Her environmental photographs focus on landscapes impacted by human activity, exploring the impact of extraction and over-consumption on the communities who live there.
Her film, 'Requiem of a Mangrove Forest' was selected to be screened as a 'Special Presentation' at International Film Festival of India 2024, Goa. Her work has been recognized by the Earth Photo 2025, Tokyo International Foto Awards 2024 and 2023, Prix de la Photographie de Paris, Indian Photo Festival 2022 and Budapest International Foto Awards 2022. It was the finalist for the Chennai Photo Biennale 2022 Iyarkai Grant and for the 'State of the World' Paris Photo Prize (PX3), Sienna Drone Awards in 2021 and 2022.
Romain Loubeyre
Romain is a passionate photographer who began his journey as the sole member of his high school's photography club. Over the past 15 years, he has combined his career as a satellite underwriter with his love for photography, focusing on capturing the concept of "sense of place" — the subjective perceptions and emotional connections people have to their environments. This focus has led him to travel widely, documenting landscapes and people along the way.
Romain’s work has been recognized in various ways, including a publication in National Geographic Traveler, a second-place finish in the 2015 French Lonely Planet photography competition, and an assignment in Alaska for The North Face (Middle East). His photography is deeply influenced by the idea that sense of place is both an interpretive and emotional experience.
The Glacial Snail
The vessel carved through the most surprising shapes as the route for the day was planned, navigating the silt deposited in Scoresby Sund by the glacial rivers from the nearby ice cap. For the artist, a single journey to Greenland marked the beginning of an enduring connection to this extraordinary land. Since that first trip, they have returned each year, transforming the experience into a pilgrimage to one of the most otherworldly and awe-inspiring places on Earth. The vast landscapes and near-total isolation of this region embody the essence of adventure. These photographs, taken in Scoresby Sund in August 2024, capture the journey around the largest fjord system on Earth, revealing the rugged beauty and raw power of this remote landscape.
Sean Gallagher is a British photographer and filmmaker based in Beijing, China, whose work focuses on the global climate crisis and environmental issues. With a BSc in Zoology and as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, he combines scientific insight with visual storytelling to document pressing ecological challenges.
Over the past two decades, Gallagher has covered diverse stories across Asia, from tracking timber poachers in Cambodia to photographing undercover in North Korea. His work has been featured by leading outlets such as National Geographic TV, CNN, and The Guardian.
Gallagher has received numerous accolades, including the British Journal of Photography's Decade of Change Short Film Winner (2021), Earth Photo Awards' Best Short Film for "Cambodia Burning" (2020), and the Environmental Photographer of the Year's Changing Environments Prize (2019).
Beyond his fieldwork, he offers mentorship programs, eBooks, and keynote speeches to educate and inspire others about environmental storytelling.
Sean Gallagher
Bali Plastic Crisis
Komang Juniawan stands at a waste barrier in Bali’s mangroves, part of Sungai Watch’s mission to stop plastic pollution, whose mission is "to stop plastic pollution from entering the ocean through barriers and community cleanups." In January 2025, Bali’s beaches were inundated with waves of plastic pollution. Each year, the rainy season flushes Indonesia’s polluted rivers, depositing millions of tonnes of plastic waste into the oceans, which then washes up along the country's coastlines. Although the plastic waves are an annual occurrence, 2025 has been called "the worst year yet" by locals. Despite regular clean-up efforts by NGOs mobilizing local residents and foreign tourists to help remove trash from beaches, the waves of pollution persist. According to the United Nations Environment Programme ,Indonesia, the world’s second-largest plastic polluter after China, produces 3.2 million tonnes of unmanaged plastic waste annually, with 1.29 million tonnes ending up in the sea (UNEP). Sean Gallagher traveled to Indonesia to document this unfolding plastic crisis. This series portrays local Indonesians engaged in community efforts to clean the country’s polluted beaches, rivers, and mangroves.
Shane Hynan
Tony’s Footings, on a bog used to harvest turf for domestic use.
Beneath | Beofhód (2018–present) explores the cultural, historical, and environmental significance of the Irish midland bogs. Beofhód—an Irish term meaning "life beneath the sod"—evokes the deep-rooted reverence for the land in Celtic culture. Through a combination of topographical mapping and metaphorical exploration, the project reflects on the legacy of industrial peat harvesting, once vital to local identity and economy. It also examines the tensions that have emerged between traditional turf cutting practices and the urgent need to restore and protect fragile peatland ecosystems. Documenting the shift from large-scale extraction to conservation efforts and the establishment of renewable energy sites, the work reveals how communities are redefining their relationship with the bog. Beneath | Beofhód invites viewers to consider the bog not only as a living archive of history but as a vital site for climate action and cultural renewal in the present.
Irish artist Shane Hynan (b. 1976) holds an MFA in Photography (Ulster University 2019). His practice centres on photography with experimental elements in sound, video, collage, and sculpture. The metaphorical exploration of place, land and architecture is a significant subtext throughout his work.
He draws upon conceptual, performative and subjective documentary approaches and works primarily with analogue photography processes as it enhances his intuitive connection with landscape and topography.
He’s shown his work extensively in Ireland and received multiple awards from the Arts Council, Creative Ireland and Kildare Arts. He’s exhibited internationally in China, Germany and the UK. In 2024 he undertook residencies at the Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris) and Roscommon Arts Centre and was awarded both a Visual Arts Bursary and Project award from the Arts Council.
Hynan is a recipient of the Photo Museum Ireland Artist Development Residency, supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Dublin City Council.
He's also part of the ‘Tóch | Dig’ Collective working on a phased, intergenerational, collaborative and community-engaged project with 2 other local artists, exploring communities of place and interest connected to bogs in north Kildare, and the effects of climate change on communities past, present and future.
Skander Khlif (b. 1983, Tunis) is a visual artist and storyteller based between Munich and Tunis. His work explores the relationship between people, place, and memory through a poetic visual language grounded in lived experience.
Originally trained as a human-machine engineer in Germany, he now focuses on long-term photographic narratives that examine environmental change, cultural identity, and resilience particularly in Mediterranean and North African contexts.
He has held solo exhibitions in Tunisia and Europe, including Mediterraneo (Trier), Galerie Blumberg (Potsdam), and Archivart (Tunis). His work has received the Photomed Award, ISPF, the LensCulture Award, and Art Photo BCN. He has been nominated for both the Prix Pictet and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award.
Skander Khlif
The Pulse of the Land
A boy plays near a dam in Beja, Tunisia, where water levels carry national significance. In a country where fertile land is increasingly at risk, the radio broadcasts daily updates on reservoir levels—critical lifelines for agriculture and survival. As climate change intensifies and global temperatures rise, water scarcity is not only altering livelihoods but reshaping the very landscape. What was once a source of abundance has become a fragile, contested resource. In Tunisia, water is no longer taken for granted; it is a symbol of uncertainty and resilience, etched into the collective consciousness of a population witnessing the quiet transformation of their environment—one drought, one drop at a time.
Sophia Nasif
Sophia Nasif is a British-Maldivian photojournalist and documentary photographer whose work centers on environmental justice, climate change, and social equity. Currently based between the UK and the Maldives, she combines visual storytelling with advocacy, often collaborating with NGOs and grassroots organisations.
Nasif is the Ocean Culture Life Ambassador for the Maldives, where she serves as a “Storyteller of the Sea,” highlighting the environmental and cultural significance of oceanic ecosystems. In 2025, she was selected for the third cohort of Decoding the Anthropocene: Tackling the Climate Crisis, a co-learning program led by Sharbendu De for South Asian photographers and visual storytellers.
Her academic background includes an MA in Photojournalism & Documentary Photography from the University of the Arts London (2021–2024) and a BA in Illustration & Animation from Kingston University. She has curated and participated in numerous exhibitions, including Free To Be Me and Stories To Tell at UAL, focusing on themes of identity, community, and resistance.
Beyond photography, Nasif is an active advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion. During her tenure as a sabbatical officer at the Arts Students' Union (2022–2024), she introduced South Asian Heritage Month to UAL, aiming to enhance representation for South Asian students.
Her portfolio includes the project Magey Raajje Nethidhanee (My Homeland Fades Away), which reflects on the Maldives as both a personal homeland and a site of cultural and environmental transformation.
Magey Raajjee Nethidhanee (My Homeland Fades Away)
“What greater grief than the loss of one’s native land.” – Euripides, 431 BC.
Dhivehi Raajje, known globally as the Maldives, faces an existential threat from the accelerating climate crisis. For many in the West, the potential loss of a luxury holiday destination may seem abstract—but for Maldivians, it marks the impending erasure of home, identity, and heritage. In Magey Raajje Nethidhanee (This Is My Maldives), the artist reflects on the Maldives as a place of belonging, culture, and deep community roots. By physically altering personal photographs, the work conveys a poignant truth: what is at stake is not only land, but memory, tradition, and the intimate fabric of daily life
Sue Flood
Sue Flood is an award-winning British wildlife photographer, filmmaker, and zoologist known for her striking work in the polar regions. A former BBC Natural History Unit producer, she contributed to The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, working alongside Sir David Attenborough. With over 30 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica, her photography has appeared in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, and Geo. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Photographic Society, Flood is also an ambassador for Girls Who Click. She lives in North Wales and continues to document Earth’s most remote environments.
Crabeater Seals
The polar regions are among the most awe-inspiring and extraordinary wildernesses on our planet. For almost thirty years, I have had the privilege of exploring both the Arctic and Antarctic, and I am forever humbled by their vastness and their remarkable inhabitants—wildlife perfectly adapted to these seemingly inhospitable environments. As Sir David Attenborough once said: "No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced." Photography, like storytelling, offers a way to bring the beauty and wonder of the polar regions to those who may never set foot there. By sharing their beauty, resilience, and vulnerability, we can inspire people to care—and to act. The polar regions are not just distant wildernesses; they are vital to our planet’s delicate balance. They remind us of our shared responsibility to protect it. I was working on the Antarctic Peninsula when I encountered this breathtaking scene: three crabeater seals resting on an ice floe. The shapes of the mountains and ice, combined with the reflections and dramatic grey skies, created a striking composition. Crabeaters are, in fact, the most numerous seal species in Antarctica.
Beaver Britannia - Beavers at work; A Woodland Damned, and Wetlands Forming
Eurasian beavers are returning to the UK after 400 years, both small numbers of licensed beavers and a larger presence of unofficially released ones. Beavers are reshaping the landscape through dam-building. Their activity is expected to enhance biodiversity, restore wetlands, and aid floodwater management. In Somerset, outside of Frome, beavers for around eight years are slowing water, creating wetlands from young woodland and meadows, and likely preventing downstream flooding. Wetlands support 40% of the world’s plant and animal species. The UK has lost most of its wetlands and rivers are in poor health, beavers’ work helps the water self-clean, aiding the ecosytems’s recovery.
Tamara Stubbs
Tamara Stubbs is a British documentary photographer, aerial cinematographer, and sound recordist with over 20 years of experience in science, natural history, and expedition filmmaking. Her work has taken her to every ocean and both polar regions, capturing compelling narratives in some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments.
Her photography has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, The Times, The Guardian, and Newsweek. Notable achievements include a Highly Commended award in the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and the overall win in the 2021 Shackleton/Leica 'Capture the Extreme' competition.
In her fine art practice, Stubbs is represented by Moorwood Art in Somerset, where she showcases works like The Endurance Collection, inspired by her Antarctic expeditions.
Beyond photography, she is a CAA-certified drone operator and has contributed to major productions for BBC, National Geographic, and the Discovery Channel. Her multidisciplinary approach and commitment to storytelling make her a distinctive voice in visual media.
Ted Leeming
On Food
Based in Galloway, southwest Scotland, Leeming’s practice explores climate change, biodiversity, and the complex relationships between people and the natural world. Motivated by the cultural narratives that have shaped today’s ecological crises, their work examines the urgent thinking needed to bring about transformative change—while highlighting the role of the visual arts in that process. Through immersive, low-impact projects, they undertake place-based investigations of environmental and social relevance. The ongoing project If Place Mirrors Who We Are, What Does It Reflect? documents rapidly evolving urban and rural environments across Scotland. By exploring tensions and harmonies between nature, communities, landowners, and commercial interests, the work invites reflection on collective identity and our responsibilities as stewards of the land. It also examines the disconnect between food production and urban life, advocating for reconnection and education as essential components of a more sustainable, resilient future.
Ted Leeming is an environmental photographer and artist based in Galloway, Scotland. His practice centers on climate change, biodiversity, and the complex interrelationships between humans and the natural world. Motivated by the cultural narratives driving today’s environmental crises, Leeming uses photography to explore the role of art in inspiring urgent change.
Drawn to immersive, low-impact approaches such as walking and cycling, his projects often engage directly with place and community. In his ongoing series "If Place Mirrors Who We Are, What Does It Reflect?", Leeming documents Scotland’s evolving rural and urban environments, using the landscape as a lens through which to examine land use, identity, and our shared responsibilities as stewards of the earth.
Working in collaboration with Morag Paterson, his work has been exhibited internationally and is rooted in long-term engagement with ecological themes and sustainable practices.
Tinzouline, Draa Valley, Morocco, October, 2023.
Salim El Kabir adjusts the solar panel powering the pump that draws water from a well irrigating the date palm groves near the Draa River. As drought intensifies, farmers across the Draa River basin increasingly dig wells—often illegally—to access groundwater.
Morocco’s oases, once celebrated for their vastness and natural wealth, are rapidly disappearing under the combined pressures of climate change and human activity. Dehydrated, fire-ravaged, and increasingly abandoned, they face grave ecological and social consequences.
Covering 15% of Morocco’s territory and supporting about two million people, the oases have lost two-thirds of their area over the past century. Nowhere is the transformation more visible than in the Draa Valley, where bridges that once spanned a flowing river now arch over dry riverbeds, and paved roads cut through parched remnants of once-thriving landscapes.
The oases' traditional agricultural system, centered on the date palm, historically offered resilience against harsh conditions. The palms provided fruit, shaded crops, and preserved the moisture vital for fruit trees, vegetables, grains, and fodder. But today, water scarcity is forcing communities to dig deeper wells, tapping saltier groundwater that degrades soil fertility and threatens both crops and livelihoods.
Vincenzo Montefinese
Vincenzo Montefinese is an Italian documentary photographer and photojournalist from Taranto, specializing in visual storytelling that addresses social, environmental, and human rights issues. After earning a degree in Sports Science, he pursued a Master’s in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism at ISFCI in Rome in 2015.
Montefinese’s work has been featured in prominent publications such as L’Espresso, Vanity Fair, El País, Die Zeit, Internazionale, CNN, GQ, GEO Magazine, and The British Journal of Photography. He collaborates with international NGOs to produce impactful photo and video documentaries aimed at raising awareness and driving social change.
His notable projects include Lost Oases, Stuck in Serbia, Exodus to Poland, and Bitter Lucania, which explore themes like migration, climate change, and cultural resilience.
Montefinese’s work has garnered multiple accolades, including a Jury’s Choice award at the 2024 Premio Terna and recognition from the World Press Photo, Urban Photo Awards, and the Moscow International Foto Awards.
Vivian Wan
Rotary Screw Traps
Yurok Tribal members and biologists Oshun O'Rourk and Yadao Inong, alongside technicians, set up rotary screw traps on the Trinity River in Willow Creek, California. These traps capture live fish for the annual disease assessment and to study migration patterns. For centuries, the Klamath Basin has been the heart of the Yurok Tribe, providing vital resources that sustain their way of life. As "Indians of the river and coast," the Yurok people have relied on the basin's rich waters for fishing, eel hunting, and, most importantly, the sacred salmon, which holds profound cultural, spiritual, and economic significance. However, colonization, land dispossession, and environmental degradation have severely impacted this once-thriving ecosystem. The Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program, established to restore the health of the Klamath Basin, aims not only to conserve the land and its resources but also to protect the Yurok way of life, promoting justice, resilience, and healing for future generations.
Vivian Wan is a London-based photographer exploring themes of memory, identity, and performance through fine art and narrative portraiture. Her work blends documentary and conceptual approaches, often evoking a sense of the uncanny. Notable for her project Today, Tomorrow, a collaboration with her grandparents, Wan reimagines the family album to reflect on cultural heritage and resilience. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, Telegraph Magazine, and Bloomberg, and she was shortlisted for the 2023 Taylor Wessing Prize.
