Dazzling photo of a pink salt lake shortlisted for major competition

Picture of a salt lake in southern Ukraine is shortlisted for Earth Photo 2022, a competition that aims to celebrate the environment and its inhabitants

By Gege Li

STRIKING and poignant, these photographs capture the beauty and fragility of the planet while highlighting the need to protect our natural landscapes. They are some of the shortlisted images for Earth Photo 2022, a global film and photography competition created by Forestry England and the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Yevhen Samuchenko’s image of the pink salt lake in Kherson, Ukraine (main image), is one of those shortlisted in the Place category. The photograph, At the Pink Planet, 1 Car and 2 People, is from a larger series of stunning bird’s-eye views that Samuchenko has captured using a drone. This picture was taken during summer, when the lake’s colour is richest – its pink hue is due to beta-carotene pigment produced by algae.

The next picture is Unearthed #1, also from a series of linked images. Over 12 days in 2021, Romain Loubeyre photographed the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland as it erupted. This photo has been shortlisted in the Nature category.

Next is is Wind Energy and Trees: Allied against climate change by Roberto Bueno, shortlisted in the Changing Forests category. His shot of a pine tree and wind turbine in Tarragona, Spain, was artfully composed to illustrate what he calls the “two necessary policies against climate change”.

And finally, Red Pepper Picking by Subrata Dey, who photographed workers in Bogura, Bangladesh, harvesting the very popular – and hot – local red chillies. This photograph was shortlisted in the Place category.

The Earth Photo 2022 exhibition opens at the Royal Geographical Society on 17 June.