11 June 2022 | New Scientist | 31Fragile beauty
STRIKING and poignant, these
photographs capture the beauty
and fragility of the planet while
highlighting the need to protect
our natural landscapes. They are
some of the shortlisted images for
Earth Photo 2022, a global film and
photography competition created
by Forestry England and the Royal
Geographical Society in London.
Yevhen Samuchenko’s image
of the pink salt lake in Kherson,
Ukraine (main image), is one
of those shortlisted in the Place
category. The photograph, At the
Pink Planet, 1 Car and 2 People, is
from a larger series of stunning
bird’s-eye views that Samuchenko
has captured using a drone. This
picture was taken during summer,
when the lake’s colour is richest –
its pink hue is due to beta-carotene
pigment produced by algae.
Moving clockwise, the next
picture is Unearthed #1, also from
a series of linked images. Over
12 days in 2021, Romain Loubeyre
photographed the Fagradalsfjall
volcano in Iceland as it erupted.
This photo has been shortlisted
in the Nature category.
Immediately below is
Wind Energy and Trees: Allied
against climate change by Roberto
Bueno, shortlisted in the Changing
Forests category. His shot of^ a
pine tree and wind turbine in
Tarragona, Spain, was artfully
composed to illustrate what he
calls the “two necessary policies
against climate change”.
And finally, at the bottom right
is Red Pepper Picking by Subrata
Dey, who photographed workers
in Bogura, Bangladesh, harvesting
the very popular – and hot – local
red chillies. This photograph was
shortlisted in the Place category.
The Earth Photo 2022 exhibition
opens at the Royal Geographical
Society on 17 June. ❚Gege LiYE
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