Glass half full: Environmental Photographer of the Year 2013

Amelia Collins

26 February 2013

Looking through the images from CIWEM's Environmental Photographer of the Year 2013 , I was heartened by a sense of positivity. I don't mean that climate change, social inequality or development issues are no longer there to be photographed. Rather, the tone of the photography is changing. This series of images demonstrates that beauty can be as powerful as negativity in portraying the challenges we face.

GMB Akash's Survivors depicts "one of the most neglected and downtrodden communities" in Dhaka. Yet it is the vibrant colours and the "hopeful souls" of the inhabitants that burst through the bleak century-old building and into the viewer's eye.

We're so frequently presented with heart-breaking images of people in Africa scraping a living on piles of waste. Igor F Petkovic's Trashfighters is a breath of fresh air and captures the dignity as well as the "real happiness shining" from these kids' faces.

I feel empowered, not ineffectual, after looking at these images. There are things we can all do, such as signing up to our Make it Better campaign to improve the way products are made, so that our waste doesn't end up on other continents.

If only we could get developers and planners to see things differently, the ever-changing landscape and rights of local people might better protected. Stuart Chape perfectly captures the absurdity of continuous development that fails to acknowledge the needs of people and the planet in his striking image Hong Kong Hole. Closer to home Friends of the Earth strives to counter this trend in planning.

The CIWEM Environmental photographer of the Year 2013 works will be displayed at the Royal Geographical Society, London from 10 April - 3 May 2013, as well as in Cumbria and again in London later in the year. I hope you'll join me in visiting this promising exhibition.

Amelia Collins, Creative Communications team

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