An amateur photographer and filmmaker from India has been named The Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year.
Judges decided Uttam Kamati’s image ‘Watering Melon’ – depicting a husband and wife watering watermelon saplings on the Teesta river bed, in West Bengal, India – was the winning shot.
Kamati, who captures the work of humanitarian projects, picked up his prize of £5,000 at a ceremony last night (Thursday).
One of the judges for 2015, Dr. David Haley, said: “Some images immediately strike a chord. Some images linger in your mind and won’t go away. And some images pose more questions than they answer, making you want to find out more about them.
“As these qualities become apparent in ‘Watering Melon’ by Uttam Kamati, the environmental significance of this image is revealed.”
The Young Environmental Photographer of the Year 2015 prize of £1,000 was awarded to Bhar Dipayan’s image ‘Families are living under the Bridge’.
Dipayan works in Kolkata, India, and has been a photographer for four years, slowly building up recognition in his own country and abroad for his intimate images of daily life in the developing world.
Esme Allen was awarded the Forestry Commission England Exhibition Award for her series entitled ‘Eden Restored – The Mesopotamian Marshes of Iraq’.
She will now be invited to exhibit a solo show of her work at one of England’s public forests.
Meanwhile the Atkins Cityscape Prize of £1,000 is awarded to Michael Theodoric for his image ‘Enjoy’, which shows a man enjoying the view of Jakarta from his hotel room.
