Judges
Courtesy of
Supratim Bhattacharjee
Chris Wainwright Prize for Climate Change
Supratim Bhattacharjee
Winner
Supratim Bhattacharjee is a professional photographer who focuses on in-depth visual storytelling projects. His projects are usually long-term, depicting environmental, social, and humanitarian issues. One of his long-term projects, "Sinking Sundarbans (2009 - Ongoing)" has been appreciated widely and is an eye-opener for global climate activists. This environmental and humanitarian project got selected as the "UNICEF photo of the year", in 2021. This project depicts how the world's biggest mangrove region is threatened by rapid climatic change.
His work has already been shown at major environmental conferences, and he has won a Royal Photographic Society award in the UK. He started "The curse of coal" in 2014, which is still ongoing. It's a long-term project dealing with fossil fuel extraction and its deadly environmental impact. This environmental and humanitarian project has been selected as the "UNICEF photo of the year", 2020. His works were displayed at the Climate Adaptation Summit and Global Center On Adaptation, The Netherlands. His environmental and humanitarian projects can instigate policymakers to take steps for the cause of humanity. Moving forward, he has plans to represent the gruesome realities of human life in South Asian Countries with utmost honesty, maintaining the dignity of the human race.
Sinking Sundarbans
Sundarbans, West Bengal, India
2017 - 2021
The southern part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta stretches over an area of 150,000 sq. km, having around 4000 sq. km approximately in the Indian part. This area recognized as a World Heritage Site is covered with the biggest mangrove forest, and has around 102 swampy islands, out of which humans inhabit only 52.
People here largely depend on natural resources for their livelihood. Indiscriminate cutting down of trees for domestic and commercial purposes has created an imbalance in nature. This is referred to as Global warming. The land has now become susceptible to natural disasters. Storms, heavy rainfall, and frequent floods have changed the geography of the land. Soil erosion has made the situation worse. Incidentally, Sundarbans is witnessing a 3.14 mm rise in sea levels every year.
This has led to water salinity degrading irrigable land and causing a food crisis. Even drinking water is getting obscure here. Water has already devoured parts of Mousuni and Ghoramara Island. It is believed that water will devour a large part of the Sundarbans' island in the coming years.