Vital Impacts unveils the recipients of the 2024-2025 Vital Impacts Environmental Photography Grants

“The power of photography lies in its ability to transform abstract issues into relatable narratives,” said Alessia Glaviano, Head of Global Photo Vogue, about the initiative.

Vital Impacts reveals the artists selected for this year’s Vital Impacts Environmental Photography Grants, each dedicated to revolutionary environmentalists Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Ian Lemaiyan, Chico Mendes, Madonna Thunder Hawk, and E.O. Wilson. Chosen from among 512 applicants from seventy-nine countries, the recipients’ projects focus on local stories that narrate innovative solutions and inspire positive change for our planet, which is affected by climate change. As underlined by Amy Vitale, founder of Vital Impacts, “With 73% of the Earth’s wildlife lost in the past fifty years, the urgency to connect people with nature through powerful imagery has never been more critical.” The selected artists have contributed to creating the awareness we all need to shape a more just and environmentally conscious present.

The seven outstanding artists are:

• Pat Kane (Canada, Timiskaming First Nation) received the Dr. Jane Goodall award. His project stresses the deep connection between Indigenous researchers and a caribou herd they re trying to save from extinction.

Melaw Nakehk’o is a moosehide tanner, an artist, a filmmaker and mother. "Through the process of reclaiming my cultural knowledge, I saw how the many teachings woven into our land practices could positively impact our first nation communities. Our Dene protocols and laws govern our reciprocal relationship with the land and animals. Moosehide tanning is a foundational Indigenous art form, it was our homes, our transportation, our clothes and in hard times our sustenance. It is the canvas of our visual cultural identity. The smoke smell triggers memories of grandmothers, the sound of scraping reminds us of our aunties working together, the beadwork and style of our moccasins represent our nations. Hide tanning is a revolutionary act of resistance. We occupy our traditional land, we are adhering to our traditional teachings and honoring our relationship with the animals that sustain us. Moosehide Tanning is Land Back".Pat Kane

• Sirachai "Shin" Arunrugstichai (Thailand) received the Dr. Sylvia Earle award. He will document the decline of sharks and rays in Southeast Asia and promote sustainable marine practices.

Marium, the orphaned baby Dugong (Dugong dugon) that was rescued from stranding embraces a veterinarian from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, while being rehabilitated in the natural environment under cares from marine mammal experts, before dying from plastic ingestion four months later. The photo was taken at Dugong Bay, a small bay with healthy seagrass bed at Koh Libong Island, Trang Province, Thailand, May 24, 2019.While being rehabilitated, Marium showed promising signs of recovery, forming close bond with its caretakers and later gained widespread affection from the general publics, and her subsequent death helped driving major public movement and policies against single-use plastic products in Thailand and also strengthening of dugong conservation and management strategy in Thai waters.Sirachai Arunrugstichai

• Rehab Eldalil (Egypt) received the Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim award. Through cultural narratives, she analyses native plants which existence is threatened by urbanisation and climate change.

The Rosemary plant, commonly used as a food herb. But for the Bedouin community it is added in hot drinks to cure stomach aches.Rehab Eldalil

• Sofía López Mañán (Argentina) received the Ian Lemaiyan award. She will focus on the isolated Chaco communities and the way they use honey production to preserve their culture and fight against deforestation.

The Guarani people used to live in the Iberá area before the arrival of the Spaniards. The legend says that the daughter of the chief, Iberá, was in charge of the temple and the sacred snakes that her people worshiped. One day a white man arrives and invades the area and with a cross in his hand, a symbol unknown by the Guaraní people, he begins to evangelize the people. Only Ibéra and his father continued to cling to the old religion, and anguished, one night lberá decided to leave her people forever. She looked for the sacred snakes and went into the warm waters of the lagoon. The place s old inhabitants say that a voice is heard many nights. It is the song of Iberá, that lives forever in the mysterious lagoon of Corrientes.

• Alessandro Cinque (Italy, Peru) received the Chico Mendes award. He examined how Indigenous peoples in the Andes coexist with multinational mining operations

Before the mining company arrived in Ayaviri, in southern Peru, people lived on cheese and milk. Ayaviri s cheese was exported all over the country. Local residents claim that, due to water pollution and drought, their cows began to produce less milk and milk of lower quality. As a result, cheese producers now have difficulty selling their products outside the city and the economic conditions of the breeders has dropped significantly. People in nearby markets do not want to buy what may be "contaminated cheese,” breeders say. In the picture, a woman lies on a drought land.Alessandro Cinque

• Chinky Shukla (India) received the Madonna Thunder Hawk award. She documents how the Zabo system enables the Chakhesang tribe to foster sustainable agricultural practices.

Shaheeda, Sabira, and Kammo, landless laborers on a nearby farm, recall the day of the 1998 nuclear test near Chacha village, just 5 kilometers from the Pokhran desert in India. On Oct. 25, 2023, they reflect on that moment, which unfolded as they prepared food at home, a day marked by an event both unprecedented and unimaginable.Chinky Shukla

• Mélanie Wenger (France) received the E.O. Wilson award. She analyses the collaborative efforts to protect the biodiversity of the Danube Basin threatened by climate change.

CROATIA. April 2024. Kopački Rit. Early morning view of the wetland area. Damir Opacic, a ranger and former Director of Kopački Rit, contributed significantly by building the park, welcome center, and boardwalk, and initiating eco-tourism. Despite his efforts, he was later dismissed from his position. Currently, access to the Danube from the channels of the wetlands is impossible due to unusually low water levels, which is atypical for this time of year when the waters are normally at their highest in spring.Mélanie Wenger

In addition to the grants, ten emerging photographers will receive year-long mentorships. The mentees are:

• María Magdalena Arréllaga (Brazil)

Volunteer veterinarians attempt to save a marsh deer from fatal burns caused by the wildfires in the northern Pantanal wetland in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil on August 23, 2020. The marsh deer is one of many endangered species that have been impacted by the wildfires in the Pantanal, region home to one of highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet.María Magdalena Arréllaga

• Charlie Cordero (Colombia)

A group of children jumps into the water on the patio of Fredy "El Tigre" s house in Santa Cruz del Islote on October 14, 2018. Because it is an artificial island, Santa Cruz del Islote does not have beaches or sand.Charlie Cordero

• Francesca Page (UK)

Photo-story of the Convex Seascape Survey taken on the 13th August in Jersey, capturing the scientists taking Mud samples and ROV videos of the sea floor. On Assignment for Blue Marine Foundation and Oceanographic Magazine.©2024 Francesca Page

• Ana Caroline de Lima (Brazil)

The money that comes from the Chaccu doesn t go to the families, but is shared by the community. The school has been recently reformed. "I want to study and become a teacher when I grow up", says 9-year-old Jon. "I m already practicing. When I come back to my house I teach my little brother Juanzito."Ana Caroline de Lima

• Jessica Hadley (United States)

Two Yellowstone visitors pose for a selfie with a bison in-front of Old Faithful Geyser, ignoring park rules to maintain a 25 yard distance from wildlife, putting themselves in harms way.Jessica Hadley

• Oyewole Lawal (Nigeria)

A Waste Miner, a Rapper, Naziru, 24 years old also known as NAZBOY (stage name), using Snapchat to record himself while rapping with his Kwankwaso cap: a politician s signature in Kano State. This was taken at Olusosun Landfill, Ikeja Lagos.Oyewole Lawal

• Guerchom Ndebo (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Mwamba, 35, digger in the mining town of Mutoshi, loads his telephone into his sister s house in Fungurume, Lualaba province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on October 16, 2023.Having come from Kamina in search of a living, Mwamba started out as a trader, then as a digger and father of a family. After just a few years of work, Mwamba has already survived a landslide accident when working under a well.Guerchom Ndebo

• Ahmed Qabel (Egypt)

During the wheat harvest, small farmers are categorized into three groups. The first group consists of educated smallholders who hold side jobs alongside managing their land. The second group comprises uneducated individuals who engage in daily labor, working on both their own land and the land of others. The third group includes those without land, who work as day laborers on someone else s land.Ahmed Qabel

• Kianoush Saadati (Iran)

Ali, 32 years old, has been working in the mine for over 13 years. The miners have to work longer hours to earn more wages, and every day they dig deeper into the tunnels to extract more coal.Kianoush Saadati

• Ela Zdešar (Slovenia)

Špela Kaplja takes a moment to admire a wild rose while cutting down some of unwanted and chaotically overgrown plants. May 25, Slovenia. © Ela Zdešar© Ela Zdešar