Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition announced its 2023 winners. As every year, it recognizes and rewards environmental photography that inspires change and climate action. This year’s winner is Maurizio Di Pietro, a professional photographer from Italy. A photo of an insect food experiment caught the eye of a jury and raised questions about our future.
About the Environmental Photographer of the Year Contest
The 2023 Environmental Photographer of the Year competition is in its 16th year. As always it attracted a wide range of participants: 17 to 70 years old; Amateurs and Professionals. Notably, many competitors come from countries most affected by climate change, such as Bangladesh, India and Argentina.
CIWEM and WaterBear organized the competition and Nikon presented it with support from MPB and Arup. This year’s event saw thousands of entries from more than 159 countries, most of which highlighted pressing environmental issues facing our planet.
Winners, particularly those from climate-affected regions, used their photographs to promote climate action and raise awareness. The competition includes two main titles and four additional award categories, each recognizing photographers’ work on specific environmental themes.
Overall Winners – Adult and Youth categories
Italian photographer Maurizio Di Pietro 2023 Grand Title Winner. His photo shows an innovative insect feeding experiment at the University of Turin. This photo is part of his Zero hunger The series focuses on global food insecurity and potential solutions. Some of these solutions can be hidden in insects.
Di Pietro’s work highlights the frightening reality of food insecurity in Italy. But it also gives us hope that we have the potential for new food sources as a way forward in tackling climate change.
The competition also offers awards Young Environmental Photographer of the Year (21 and under). This year, 18-year-old Solaiman Hossain won. His photo shows a farmer and his cows wading through floodwaters in Bangladesh. His work aims to inspire environmental action by conveying the importance of nature and raising awareness of environmental issues.
category winners
As I mentioned, there are four special categories of Environmental Photographer of the Year.
„MBP Vision of the Future” category winner Zahid Abu is a professional photographer from Bangladesh. He captured a bridge surrounded by a sea of plastic waste, signaling the urgent need to address plastic pollution and its impact on communities.
„Restoring nature” category winner Nicolas Marin, an Argentine National Geographic underwater explorer and environmentalist. He won for his photo of a rare glowing coral that emphasizes the wonder and fragility of marine life.
This year „Adapting for Tomorrow” category winner Anirban Dutta is a photographer and high school teacher from West Bengal. His multi-exposure image shows Drongo catching termites, highlighting how species adapt to a changing world.
Last but not least, there is „Keeping 1.5 Alive” category winner. Shafiul Islam from Bangladesh used photography to raise awareness about climate change in his winning photo. He visualized the impact of drought on buffaloes and herders.
The Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023 competition not only showcased breathtaking and impactful photographs but also served as a clarion call for environmental action and change. In addition to the overall and category winners, the 2023 Environmental Photographer of the Year also shared the shortlisted images. They are all thought-provoking, and some are quite heavy, so proceed with caution. We bring you the selection below and do visit it Competition website For more photos and information. Previous years’ winners can also be found below.
