
Announcing the Winners & Finalists!
No matter where in the world we live, we all share the same planet. Photography is the most vivid language to convey the complex wonders and mysteries of nature. Likewise, it is one of the most powerful means to document the harmful effects of human intervention in the environment — while also applauding positive actions to preserve our fragile ecosystems.
Here are 34 unique points of view inspired by the earth, nature, and our shared surroundings. These award-winning photo stories and single images were selected by an esteemed panel of international photography experts for LensCulture’s Earth Awards 2015.
There are many difficult stories here that are meant to disturb viewers and inspire change. You will also discover amazing celebrations of the beauty and joy that nature provides. We hope you will look carefully at every one of them — we think they are all important works that deserve to be seen, shared and discussed around the world.
Series Winners
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Documentary Category
The Price of Vanity1st Place Series -
Documentary Category
Electronic Waste Dumpsite2nd Place Series -
Documentary Category
Living in the Shadow of Fire Mountains3rd Place Series -
Fine Art/Conceptual Category
When I Am Laid In Earth: Mapping with a Pyrograph1st Place Series -
Fine Art/Conceptual Category
Hong Kong Soup: 1826 (香港湯:1826)2nd Place Series -
Fine Art/Conceptual Category
Plastic Trees3rd Place Series
Single Image Winners
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Open Single Image Category
Megacerus1st Place Single Image -
Open Single Image Category
Crow's Nest2nd Place Single Image -
Open Single Image Category
Eye of the Glacier3rd Place Single Image
Finalists
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The Village
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Noctambulism
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The Big Gulp
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World in Half
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Strike Through a Supercell
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Suburban Symbiosis: Insectum Domesticus
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“The level of thoughtful approaches to communicating very complex ideas about conservation, climate change and the impact of human consumption on this planet was extremely impressive—not to mention the simple stunning beauty of many of the images.”
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Processed Views: Surveying the Industrial Landscape
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Environmental Migrants: The Last Illusion.
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inHUMAN
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Ice Formations
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Inland Photographs and Disordered Landscapes
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Great Egrets: A Nature Conservation Success
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"Kith or Kin?"
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Karabash: The Russian Ghost Town
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Fukushima: Invisible Pain
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Changing Perspectives: The Evolution of Ivanpah Solar
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The Avian World
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The Last Stand
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With Butterflies and Warriors
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“We all come from different backgrounds and cultures, and photography seems to be a language that crosses borders and speaks to all. That is the magic of it. I am glad LensCulture has the space to also show finalists’ work because it is worth getting seen.”
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Winter Day in Moscow
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Beauty Paddy of China
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After the Future
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Star Jet Roller Coaster
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Garden of Earthly Delights
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Heavy Weather
earth awards 2015 jury
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Francis HodgsonPhotography Critic, Financial Timesmore about Francis
Co-Founder, Prix Pictet
London, UK
www.ft.com/arts/francis-hodgsonFrancis Hodgson is Professor in the Culture of Photography at the University of Brighton, in England. He is also the writer on photography for the Financial Times, a contributing editor to Art Review and a critic for the Economist. Hodgson was a co-founder of the Prix Pictet (on which he served several times as chairman of the jury) and he also chaired the Sony World Photography Awards. He has published many monograph texts on photography and has often been a guest lecturer. Before these current positions, he served as head of the Photographs Department at Sotheby's and also worked as a gallerist at the Photographers' Gallery and Zwemmer Fine Photographs. -
Molly Robertsmore about MollyMolly Roberts is a photography editor, curator and photographer, she currently serves as Chief Photography Editor at Smithsonian Magazine. With 25 years experience in the magazine publishing world, she is responsible for the content and appearance of many magazines, books, web sites and apps. She is an advocate for powerful visual storytelling and human rights and recently created the non-profit HumanEyesUSA to present documentary photography projects in public spaces and to use powerful imagery to help illuminate complex issues facing America.
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Tetsuro Ishidamore about TetsuroBorn in Osaka, 1968. After working at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tetsuro Ishida serves as the curator of Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, involved with art museum education and exhibition projects and organization. He has curated exhibitions of Nobuyoshi Araki in 1999, Rinko Kawauchi in 2012, Contemporary Japanese Photography vol. 12 in 2013 and more.
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Kathy MoranSenior Editor for Natural Historymore about Kathy
National Geographic Magazine
Washington, DC
ngm.nationalgeographic.comKathy Moran is National Geographic magazine’s first senior editor for natural history projects. A 33-year veteran of the Society, Moran has been producing projects about natural ecosystems for the magazine since 1990. Moran has edited several books for the Society, including “Women Photographers National Geographic.” She was named “Picture Editor of the Year” for her winning portfolio in the 2006 Pictures of the Year competition and the 2011 Best of Photo competition. She is a founding member of the International League of Conservation photographers and edited numerous books for ILCP photographers. -
Melissa Ryanmore about MelissaMelissa Ryan is Director of Photography for Nature Conservancy magazine, the award-winning magazine of The Nature Conservancy. Ryan oversees & implements the photographic vision for the print, online and mobile editions. She works in close partnership with freelance photographers to publish dynamic environmental conservation stories. Ryan has over 20 years of photo editing experience working on magazines, books, newspapers, and online projects.
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Chris Jordanmore about ChrisChris Jordan’s work explores contemporary mass culture from a variety of photographic and conceptual perspectives. Edge-walking the lines between beauty and horror, abstraction and representation, the near and the far, the visible and the invisible, his images depict viscerally the enormity and power of humanity’s collective will. Jordan’s works are exhibited and published worldwide.
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Arianna Rinaldomore about AriannaArianna Rinaldo is a freelance professional working as a photo editor, reviewer, curator and teacher. She is the Director of OjodePez, the documentary photography quarterly published by LaFabrica, Madrid. She is also the artistic director of Cortona On The Move, an annual international photo festival, taking place in the beautiful region of Tuscany, Italy. In 2014, she was the guest artistic director of DOCfield14, a city-wide celebration of documentary photography in Barcelona, involving more than 40 institutions and organized by Photographic Social Vision.
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Ian Shivemore about IanIan Shive is CEO & founder of the Los Angeles-based Tandem Stills + Motion, Inc., one of the world’s leading collections of licensable photographs and motion clips of the outdoors; a noted photographer; recipient of the prestigious Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography; author of 5 books on photography and the environment; an instructor in the photojournalism program at the University of Southern California (UCLA); and Executive Producer of a program on sharks for the Discovery Channel, among other noted achievements.
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Jim Caspermore about JimJim Casper is the founding editor and publisher of LensCulture, one of the leading destinations for contemporary photography from around the world. As an active member in the contemporary photography world, Casper organizes annual international photography portfolio review events, curates arts exhibitions, writes about photography and culture, lectures, conducts workshops, serves as an international juror and nominator for key awards, and is an advisor to arts and education organizations. He serves on the board of directors at SPE, the Society for Photographic Education, the world’s largest association of photography educators.
We would like to thank every photographer who participated in this competition, and offer a special thanks to the members of our international jury who had the very difficult job of selecting winners and finalists from such a strong group of projects. We were truly amazed at the high quality of work that was submitted by photographers from over 80 countries. So many of the stories are stunning, remarkable, and hard to forget. Be sure to stay tuned to LensCulture, as we will continue to feature many other great photographers from this competition in addition to the winners and finalists shown here.