Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

In pictures: dramatic images of the natural world from the Earth Photo 2024 shortlist

4 minutes

Elrea Song: Flaming hills – a group spend the day picking up rubbish from the ocean

The shortlist for Earth Photo 2024 has been announced, showcasing images which highlight the beauty and peril of our planet

Earth Photo is an annual international competition for images and films that tell stories about our planet. Co-Directed by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Forestry England, and Parker Harris, the programme reveals the narratives behind pictures, encouraging conversations about our world, its inhabitants, environments, and the changing climate. 

The shortlist for the 2024 competition had now been announced, featuring 31 photographers and 13 films. From burning landscapes and bodies of water, to gulls, glaciers and garbage, the chosen images provide a glimpse of a world facing unprecedent challenges, but which still maintains a magisterial beauty.

The shortlisted works will be available to view in the Earth Photo 2024 exhibition, opening at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), in London, from 18 June to 21 August 2024 and in six Forestry England Forests. The exhibition will also tour to National Trust properties across the UK. For full details of the tour visit the Earth Photo website.

Alex Cao: Heart House on the river – Mangrove forests, like those which surround Bau Ca Cai in coastal Vietnam’s Quang Ngai Province are an important shield against destructive typhoons that rock the coast each year. Unfortunately, mangrove trees have been depleted over the years by population growth, climate change, and increased use of water for fish farming. A project called ‘Strengthening resilience to the impacts of climate change for vulnerable communities along Viet Nam’s coast’ is the subject of Alex Cao’s series of shortlisted images
Alex Cao: Boat Flower in Pollution
Jennifer Adler: Corals for the Future – Roxane Boonstra examines a ‘tree’ of healthy elkhorn coral at the Coral Restoration Foundation’s Tavernier nursery, the world’s largest underwater coral nursery.
Raymond Zhan: Walking on the Palette – A farmer walks on rice terraces in Southern China.
Tessa Bunney: Levi Terry, Lobster fisherman – Tessa’s images focus on Teeside’s lobster fishermen. Levi, pictured here, is a part-time fisherman going out from Marske-by-the-Sea, a large village between Redcar and Saltburn-by-the-Sea. He is one of very few fishermen working from traditional wooden cobles or double-enders.
Axel Javier Sulzbacher: Avocado – Green Packing is among a series of works depicting conditions and realities facing packing factories like this one in Aztecavo. Working shifts 24 hours per day throughout the year, these workers produce around 1.8 million tons of avocados annually, 80% of exports reaching the USA. The rise in avocado production has led to mass deforestation through illegally burning forests and over-use of pesticides contaminating groundwater.
Arnfinn Johansen: Arctic Tern – A tern flies in front of a glacier wall. Over the past few decades, the Arctic sea ice has been melting rapidly, and so have the glaciers. According to the latest climate models, the Arctic could be virtually ice-free during summer as soon as 2030.
Anna Korbut: Changing Landscapes – Glaciers in Switzerland are covered to protect them from melting. The textures of the fabrics meld with the rawness of ice, showing the last attempt to stop the glacier from becoming water again. Switzerland’s glaciers have lost one-third of their volume  during the last decade and 10% in the last two years.
Sandipani Chattopadhyay: Faith Beyond Toxicity Earth – Chhat pilgrims, immersed in rituals along the polluted Yamuna, face a stark contradiction of spirituality and environmental decay. The once-holy river now teems with toxins, endangering both worshippers and the ecosystem.
Farah Salem: The Covenant 2 – Farah Salem, an immigrant artist from the Arabian Peninsula, explores the concept of home in the USA. She draws on the evolving healing traditions of her homeland, which have adapted over time to meet the needs of migrating individuals and communities. In her work, she seeks connections between the deserts of her origin and the southwestern deserts of the USA. In this image, she shows herself wandering through protected wilderness areas, engaging in private, reimagined ritual practices that resonate with her desert roots.

To view all the shortlisted images and videos, visit EarthPhoto.world