earth photo 2024: global photographers capture compelling stories about our planet

earth photo awards 2024

Each year, photographers and filmmakers from around the world participate in Earth Photo, an international open call and exhibition showcasing compelling stories about our planet. This year’s competition, like previous editions, invited creatives to submit works across various categories, encouraging them to frame stories of both climate crisis, biodiversity decline, as well as rewilding, species reintegration, and positive actions towards preserving and caring for the planet’s resources.

The 2024 winner is Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni with their project Tropicalia, which documents the strategies Sicilian farmers use to combat climate change. Other highlighted winners captured diverse environments and landscapes, from the mangrove forests in Vietnam and polluted landscapes of Sri Lanka to the melting glaciers in Switzerland and glowing coastal settings in Cape Town. The works are on display at the Earth Photo 2024 exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society in London, running from June 20th to August 21st, 2024.

Jean-Marc Caimi Valentina Piccinni – 03 TROPICALIA | all images courtesy of Earth Photo

tropicalia by Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni

‘Photography and film are the most powerful mediums of our time, they enable us to convey meaning and provoke deep emotional responses far beyond the barriers of language. Now, more than ever they also play an influential role in how we see, represent and understand the world around us,’ shares the team at Earth Photo (find more here). ‘This is especially important as we face the interconnected impacts of the climate breakdown, decline of biodiversity and rapid environmental change which have led to the degradation of ecosystems everywhere. Our precious air, rivers, oceans, lands and food are affected by plastic waste, pollutants and destruction, leading to extinction, epidemics and pandemics. Connected to this is rising inequality and deterioration of human rights, alongside the worsening injustices faced by indigenous communities. All these perspectives and more are what Earth Photo is focused on bringing to the fore.’

The winners of the 2024 competition, Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni, present Tropicalia, a series of photographs that capture how Sicilian farmers adapt their methods and techniques to remain productive in the face of climate change. Their documented stories include those of Francesco Verri, an entrepreneur leading a network of small-scale growers in Messina who cultivate lesser-known tropical fruits. His vision is to establish a Made in Sicily brand for exotic fruits, raising consumer awareness. Another story features Elena Giorgianni, a naturopath and farmer who grows exotic fruits organically in the hills around Messina, taking advantage of new weather conditions and the demand for high-quality Italian exotic fruits. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and an increased risk of extreme events have transformed what was once Europe’s breadbasket into a testing ground for adaptation and survival.

Damith Osuranga Danthanarayana, Human Disaster