Environmental photojournalist Aaron Gekoski has won not one but two different categories of the Fondation Prince Albert II (FPA2) Environmental Photography Awards competition this year, while on his way to being crowned ‘Environmental Photographer of the Year’ on Tuesday, June 4.
Gekoski’s ‘See No Evil’, featuring an orangutan named Ning Nong and exploited for human entertainment in Thailand, won the ‘Humanity versus Nature category. Meanwhile, the England based photojournalist struck gold again by winning the ‘Change Makers: Reasons for Hope Award’ with the appropriately titled ‘Substitute Rhinos’ image, which depicts the Cobras Community Wildlife Protection Unit in Zimbabwe conducting guarding drills to better prepare for the threat of poachers.
Several other categories of awards make for a colourful exhibition, which is free for all to see at its usual spot on the Larvotto promenade, ever since its unveiling by FPA2 Vice-President and CEO Olivier Wenden on Tuesday. “Four years ago, when we started this photography competition, we had about 6,000 photos submitted,” said Wenden, painting the picture of this photographic competition’s success, and adding that “this year, we had 11,000 photos, of which only 36 were chosen to be part of the exhibition.”
The ‘Into the Forest’ award was won by Jaime Rojo with his beautifully amber image dubbed ‘Explosion of Monarchs’, and captured in Mexico’s fir forest, while Magnus Lundgren won the Ocean Worlds category with his photograph, ‘Inner Space Hitchhiker’. This also wonderfully titled image shows an Argonaut (or paper nautilus) riding a jellyfish in the Philippines.
The 36 award-winning photos make up an exhibition that is capable of taking the curious on a bittersweet trip around the world, and will remain on display until July 30, before going on tour. See all the award-winning photographs here.
All images courtesy of the FPA2
