Images By Environmental Photographer Of The Year Raises Questions

The Environmental Photographer Of The Year competition just completed its 14th annual judging, and £10,000 prize was awarded to the winner at a UN Climate Change meeting in Glasgow. The intent is to discover “some of the world's most inspirational environmental photography.” The 2021 winning image demonstrated the effects of rising ocean levels, which has resulted in thousands in Western Africa to abandon their houses. Portrayed is a sleeping child, surrounded by the crumbling remains of a destroyed building.

Questions quickly appeared in the Twitterverse, under a thread started by @duckrabbitblog. Is this “Pity Porn”? Is this photojournalism or was it staged, using a Black child as a prop? What ethical framework did the photographer use? Was consent obtained? Is this art? Is it exploitive? Lauren Kascak had similar concerns about her African “voluntourism” in The Society Pages :

”In the end, the Africa we voluntourists photograph isn’t a real place at all. It is an imaginary geography whose landscapes are forged by colonialism, as well as a good deal of narcissism. I hope my fellow students think critically about what they are doing and why before they sign up for a short-term global volunteer experience. And if they do go, it is my hope that they might think with some degree of narrative humility about how to de-center themselves from the Western savior narrative. Most importantly, I hope they leave their iphones at home.”

Social media is wonderfully speedy, but it is prone to missing/omitting significant details. We may never hear the answers to all the questions. And the questions have no easy answers. But in this time, it is important to discuss the matter, rethink some of our habitual methods of working, and make adjustments.