Short list to be announced on 9 July21/02/09
Yesterday I received a press release (thank you) about another award : Prix Pictet sustainability. Here's an update for you.
Water crisis in Bangladesh* highlighted at launch of Prix Pictet 2009.
Photographs by Munem Wasif revealing the daily impact of the scarcity of clean, safe water on the people of south-west Bangladesh* go on display for the first time from 9 March at the Mall Galleries, London. Wasif was one of eighteen leading international photographers shortlisted for the 2008 Prix Pictet.
In 2008 the theme of the Prize was ‘water’. For the 2009 prize, over seventy nominators from six continents have already begun the search to identify the image, or set of images, that will have the power and artistic quality to convey this year’s theme of ‘earth’. ‘Earth’ refers not only to the planet and the soil beneath our feet, but also to the marks that man makes on the face of the land—either directly by creating mines, toxic waste, vast refuse dumps and blasted desert landscapes; or indirectly, through the scars left by fire, flood or famine. It also refers to the impact of natural disasters: earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes.
Prix Picted 2009 Earth website will launch on 11 March
Benoit Aquin - Winner Prix Pictet 2008
...Three hundred million people are affected by dust storms in China. One hundred and eighty million people depend on the Yellow River. Hundreds of thousands of people have already been relocated and cities with ecological refugees have been created...Munem Wasif - Winner Prix Pictet Commission 2008
* "Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries. Millions of people lack access to essential water and sanitation services. Without these basic resources, hundreds of people die of easily preventable water-related diseases. In the Satkhira district, where the Shyamnagar Upazilla project is located, many water sources are contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic or saline water. As a result of climate change and unplanned shrimp farming, the area is experiencing a gradual increase in the salinity of the water, frequent natural disasters and erratic rainfall".
"The Prix Pictet is a major new global prize in photography that focuses on perhaps the greatest single issue of the twenty-first century: sustainability. The award is sponsored by Pictet & Cie, in association with the Financial Times.
With a single annual prize of CHF 100,000, the Prix Pictet will reward photographers and the images they use to tell stories of urgent global significance. Each year the Prix Pictet will focus on a distinct sustainability theme".
The theme for 2008 was Water. The theme for 2009 is Earth.
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