Ever since humans began to farm 10,000 years ago, they have altered Earth’s landscape. First in only small, local ways, but as humanity progressed, so too did its influence over nature.
From mining and logging to relocating or eradicating species, our management of the natural world can be seen almost everywhere.
In recent decades the effects of these interventions have been amplified by climate change, as a warming world compounds many of the unintended consequences of our actions.
Earth Photo, a competition run by Forestry England and the Royal Geographical Society, aims to ‘make viewers think differently’, capturing nature, people, place and space, forests, the land and seascapes, and the varied impacts of – and adaptations to – climate change.
More than 1,400 entries have been whittled down to 128 photos and videos, with the winners announced on Thursday, June 22.
From people working in harmony with the landscape and destroying it, to the visual impacts of climate change, this selection of entries highlights the many different forms our relationship with nature can take.
The shortlisted images will be available to see in the Earth Photo exhibition, opening at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), in London, from June 17 to August 23, 2023, and five Forestry England sites across the country, from June 23 to January 28, 2024.
The exhibition will also tour to the Sidney Nolan Trust, Herefordshire, from July 13 to September 30, 2023, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall, from February 1 to March 1, 2024 and Lishui International Photography Festival, China in December 2023.
All the images are available to view on the Earth Photo website
Snapshot
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