Photography

Focus Stacking and Lighting Techniques for Stunning Macro Photos |

Focus Stacking and Lighting Techniques for Stunning Macro Photos |

Macro photography offers a unique perspective, revealing intricate details and hidden worlds often unseen by the naked eye. However, achieving sharp focus throughout the entire image can be challenging due to the inherently shallow depth of field. This is where focus stacking, a technique that merges multiple images with different focus points, becomes invaluable. 

Coming to you from Matt Shannon, this informative video dives into the world of macro photography, specifically focusing on focus stacking and lighting techniques. Shannon emphasizes the importance of understanding depth of field and how factors like aperture, lens length, and subject distance influence it. He demonstrates how to use the focus shift shooting feature on his Nikon Z9 camera, allowing for precise control over focus bracketing and capturing a series of images for stacking. 

Shannon doesn’t stop at camera settings; he also explores lighting techniques to enhance your macro shots. He showcases the use of an Aputure LED light to introduce artificial sunlight, adding depth and dimension to subjects like leaves and flowers. Additionally, he discusses the benefits of using a polarizer to reduce unwanted reflections and enhance colors, particularly when photographing waxy surfaces like foliage. 

Beyond the technical aspects, Shannon provides valuable insights into composing macro photographs. He highlights the potential of telephoto lenses for macro work, demonstrating how they can create a sense of environment and compression, further emphasizing the subject. He also shares tips on choosing the right settings for different scenarios, such as photographing bees in bright sunlight. 

Whether you’re a seasoned macro photographer or just starting out, this video offers valuable knowledge and inspiration. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Shannon.

If you would like to continue learning about macro photography, be sure to check out “Mastering Macro Photography: The Complete Shooting and Editing Tutorial With Andres Moline!”

“Fear and Terror”: Gaza Photographer Ahmed Zakot on Documenting the Carnage of Israel’s Assault

“Fear and Terror”: Gaza Photographer Ahmed Zakot on Documenting the Carnage of Israel’s Assault

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

Israeli warplanes bombed areas in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip as well as the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza City over the last day, killing at least four people. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports the Israeli military has deployed more troops in areas adjacent to Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza, where some 1.3 million Palestinians — more than half of Gaza’s population — are seeking shelter. Israeli airstrikes have been pounding agricultural land in the eastern parts of Rafah this morning.

The official death toll in Gaza is nearly 34,000 Palestinians killed, over 14,000 of them children. Thousands more are missing and presumed dead under the rubble. Nearly 77,000 have been wounded. That’s 100,000 Palestinians killed or wounded since October 7th.

This comes as a picture by the Gaza-based Reuters photojournalist Mohammed Salem has been chosen as the 2024 World Press Photo of the Year. It shows a Palestinian woman, Inas Abu Maamar, caressing the wrapped body of her dead niece Saly in the Nasser Hospital morgue in Khan Younis in October.

Well, today we’re joined by a Palestinian photographer who was able to leave Gaza 10 days ago with his family. Ahmed Zakot [@ahmedzakot] is a photographer who’s documented Gaza for the past 25 years. Two of his photographs are featured in a U.N. OCHA project. Ahmed Zakot joins us now from Cairo, Egypt.

Ahmed, welcome to Democracy Now! You’ve just recently left Gaza. Can you talk about the journey you took and why, as a photographer who’s documented Gaza for the last quarter of a century, you decided to leave with your family?

AHMED ZAKOT: Thank you so much, and I’m very happy to join you today.

Actually, what forced us to leave Gaza is to be safe and to keep our family lives safe. As you know, it’s a war ongoing since seven months. And it’s a very, very hard war. I’m working since 25 years. This is the first war that I faced. It’s a very, very strong war. And we don’t know how we are be patient to keep to stay alive during this seven months. Actually, this war is keeping and still ongoing on Gaza Strip. So, each month, we talk to us that this war will stop and the international community will stop this war, but, actually, no one — nothing changed, and the war is still ongoing until this moment.

AMY GOODMAN: Ahmed, you left, but you have two brothers, their wives and children. Where are they in Gaza right now? What circumstances are they living in?

AHMED ZAKOT: Yeah, of course. I left two brothers, wives and their children in Khan Younis at al-Mawasi area, that the Israeli army said it is a humanitarian area. But, actually, nowhere, no place in Gaza Strip are safe, because I was there, and we are — all of us, we lived in tents on this area. This area, it’s like desert — no water, no food, no useful food. And it’s a danger areas, because the Israeli army, by time to time, targeted tents and targeted many targets over there. So, we are seeking and we are trying to evacuate them from Gaza Strip as soon as possible to follow us here in Egypt to be safe, because, as I said, this war are still ongoing. The situation of my family and all the Palestinians’ situation are very, very catastrophic and very, very bad over there. No one can live, and no one can guarantee that he will wake up the next morning, he is alive, or he is not wounded.

AMY GOODMAN: Ahmed Zakot, so many of your photographs feature children, also ambulances. Can you talk about your focus right now as you photographed in Gaza these last six months?

AHMED ZAKOT: Yes, of course. Our coverage this war is different about many last wars in Gaza. As you know, Gaza Strip occurred four wars, at least. And I covered them, but this war was special, and because of — it’s special about me as a photojournalist for 25 years because the intensive hits, the intensive heavy attacks on the neighborhoods, the cities, the buildings, and also it hits the civilians, the innocent people, actually. So it’s different. This is the first time I felt the fear and terror of this war on me and on my brothers, my family, completely, actually.

So, I can’t explain this war, because it’s a very, very big war. We can say each area that we went and cover it, we can say it’s like an earthquake hit this area, not bombard and bombs hit this area. There are a lot of destruction buildings in each single piece and place in Gaza Strip. So, we are focusing on children, women and on the ambulances’ teams and all of the civilians that were hit on this war.

AMY GOODMAN: Ahmed Zakot, two of your photographs are featured in an OCHA project. That’s the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It’s a project called — 

AHMED ZAKOT: Yes, of course. I’m —

AMY GOODMAN: — “Gaza’s Carnage Through the Eyes of Palestinian Photojournalists.” One of them was taken on October 9th, the other on November 10th. Can you describe these photographs that you chose for this project? In your description of the photograph from October 9th, it says, “It was as if flames were spewing from the jaws of Israeli tanks and the F-16 missiles, I took this picture from the 19th floor of a skyscraper in Gaza. In my 25-year career as a photographer, I never felt such fear and distress.”

AHMED ZAKOT: Yes, of course. This picture — yes —

AMY GOODMAN: “I felt that I was filming a cinematic movie scene, I had to remind myself that it is all too real. I don’t have the words to describe this picture, but I know the terror I felt watching the flames lighting up Gaza in a night drowned in darkness with the electricity cut-offs on Gaza.” We’re, Ahmed, looking at your picture as you talk to us about it, that picture you took in October.

AHMED ZAKOT: Yes, of course. This is the first time that I captured such this picture, because, as I said and as I explained, I thought myself that I’m shooting or capturing a cinematic scene, because this is the first time I saw a heavy of air attacks on a simple area. It was al-Rimal neighborhood. It is the beautiful neighborhood in Gaza. And this night, it was because of the heavy and the intensive attacks from the airstrikes, they are lighting the area amid of this darkness. As you know, Gaza are suffering from power cut for many years, since 2006. But this time I felt that Gaza is lighting, but not with electricity, by the lights comes from the bombs and airstrikes from the F-16 warplanes. So, this picture are still stuck on my mind until now, and will stick in my mind forever, because I felt that really I’m in a cinematic scene, not in a real war that’s hitting the areas and the buildings over there.

AMY GOODMAN: And I wanted to end —

AHMED ZAKOT: This is why this picture are still stuck and has a story with me.

AMY GOODMAN: Ahmed, I wanted to end with your other photograph, from November. It is a photograph of thousands of displaced Palestinians fleeing south. You wrote, “As I was taking this picture; I remembered my grandfather telling me about al-Nakba and how he was displaced. I started crying.”

AHMED ZAKOT: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Tell us about —

AHMED ZAKOT: Of course, I remember this picture. So, I was crying. I stopped my capturing pictures at that day especially, because I remembered my grandfather’s story that he told me before he passed away in 2002. He told me about al-Nakba stages, when the Israeli forces forced them to leave the original cities in Israel to the southern cities in Gaza Strip. So, he told me one word, that this scene will not get back at this time. So, when I captured this scene, I remembered this word from him that when he told me this sentence, that when he told me before he passed away, that this scene will not get back.

But now we are shooting this picture. We are shooting this situation, this displacement for this people, for those people who are suffering. As you see in the picture, they are carrying their belongings at their help and weak hands. So, they are fleeing from the northern cities of Gaza Strip to the southern cities. So, it reminds me what my grandfather told me about this displacement. It’s the same happened since 1948 — now we are in 2024, or 2023, by the way. So, this reminded me and stuck my heart. I stopped my work and keep crying, away from my friends that we are together at that day.

AMY GOODMAN: Ahmed, can you talk about how you got out of Gaza with your family? Can you talk about — what? An adult has to pay something like $7,000, $8,000. It’s $2,500 for a child. Explain the circumstances, how you get out, as the Israeli military says it is intent on now attacking Rafah, where people leave from.

AHMED ZAKOT: So, yes, we are leave Gaza — we are left Gaza by I coordinating with the Egyptian Press Syndicate, and they arranging that to me and to my family because I’m a journalist. So they helped me to do that. Really, really, I appreciated that for them and very thankful for them, because they helped me to leave Gaza here to Egypt to at least stay for maybe one or two months, until the war will stop. So, I will get back to my city, to Gaza, to the Gaza Strip, to keep working and to keep sending messages and to keep covering the suffers of my people in Gaza Strip.

AMY GOODMAN: Ahmed Zakot, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Palestinian photographer, forced to leave Gaza with his family 10 days ago.

Coming up, we will look —

AHMED ZAKOT: Thank you so much.

AMY GOODMAN: — at the U.N. project, the Gaza Collective Photo Essay project, and the work of more Palestinian photojournalists. Stay with us.

It’s Lisa’s Turn column: Photography is a remarkable substitute for eyesight

It’s Lisa’s Turn column: Photography is a remarkable substitute for eyesight

A little over 10 years ago, I invested in my first good camera gear. I’d loved photography as a hobby when I had a good quality point-and-shoot, and I really fell in love when my ex-husband, a photographer, let me use his gear and helped teach me the finer points of using it. Alas, he took his camera bag when we split, so in 2011, it had been a while since I had spent much time taking pictures.

But a Duluth friend/birder/photographer who had a regular feature on my radio show was getting me excited about the new digital photography tech, and one spring, right around this time that year, I blew my income tax refund on a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera.

I’d been thinking for a while that, as a single mom, I was going to need to find something to occupy myself so I didn’t become a helicopter parent or worse. Good thing I was in the market for an obsession, because I found one. I put in about 15 hours a week, photographing adoptable dogs at the animal shelter. Duluth has no shortage of birds and wildlife, so I met some new photographer friends and started going out with them regularly.

And then there were my monthly (or so) trips to visit my folks here in Alexandria.

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Common loon

Lisa Johnson

Let me back up a minute. My eyesight has been crummy ever since third grade, when I got my first pair of glasses. First it was nearsightedness, then nearsightedness with astigmatism… now it’s both of those plus age.

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So imagine my delight when, through the magic of a camera lens, I learned the black specks and brown blobs I’d been seeing all my life resolve themselves into birds with the most amazing and undreamed of colors! Suddenly every trip home became a photo safari, and Douglas County was rich with heretofore unseen treasures.

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Wood duck

Lisa Johnson

Photography became almost like Christmas morning when I was a kid: “What did I get? What did I get?” And frequently: “Oh, this is even better than I thought it would be!” Birds almost never disappoint: even a photo that’s not crystal clear or beautifully composed can show the bright black twinkle of a sparrow’s eye or the huge yellow eyes of an owl. Although the subject of the photo is long gone, I can pore over the image to my heart’s content, looking at cormorants’ funny feet or the slate blue in a sparrow’s wing.

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Double-crested cormorant

Lisa Johnson

Who knew that bird was really green? Who knew that bird had a bright yellow head? Who knew that those “ducks” floating on the slough were wood ducks and blue-winged teal and scaup and redhead?

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Bald eagle

Lisa Johnson

Photography has opened up a whole new world for me, but it’s really made birds something special. If we’re not racing through our days being “busy,” we’re racing down the road at 70 miles an hour. I’m tired of busy.

I still drive faster than I should, but now I’m scanning the roadsides and trees and fences and power lines for birds. My camera with the big zoom lens sits in the passenger seat so I can slam on the brakes and pull over at a moment’s notice to photograph a turkey vulture or a red tailed hawk or a bald eagle.

I know every slough and body of water between Lake Brophy in Douglas County to Kenney Lake in Grant County, where I spend most of my vacation time.

Then after I’ve doodled my way home after as many stops as it took to get photos, I can make a cup of coffee and carry it over to the computer and sit down. I can take my time browsing through my pictures, finally able to see clearly the birds I photographed.

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Red-winged blackbird

Lisa Johnson

So

when my friend Laura

talks about that childlike joy of discovery … I’m still having that experience (or I will be, once I get my best gear out of storage with the rest of my life). That driver in front of you who just hit the brakes and veered over onto the shoulder? Who’s snapping away with a big lens at who-knows-what out the window? That’s just a gray-haired child, experiencing elation and wonder. She’s got her hazard flashers on, at least, so just give her a smile and drive on by.

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“It’s Our Turn” is a weekly column that rotates among members of the Echo Press editorial staff.

Sony World Photography Awards 2024: Photographer of the Year Announced

Sony World Photography Awards 2024: Photographer of the Year Announced
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The World Photography Organisation announced today the overall winners of the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 at a special gala ceremony held in London. Now in its 17th year, the Awards’ ceremony is a major annual moment recognising the best photography in the world today, and celebrating the images and stories that have resonated with global audiences over the past year. The winning, finalist and shortlisted images are on view at the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 exhibition at Somerset House, London from 19 April.

The prestigious Photographer of the Year title was awarded to Juliette Pavy for her series Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women. Pavy won a $25,000 (USD) cash prize, a range of Sony digital imaging equipment, and the opportunity to present a new body of work at the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 exhibition.

Pavy was selected from the 10 Professional competition category winners, who were announced today alongside the 2nd and 3rd place finalists in each category. From urgent stories documenting our changing climate and our relationship with the natural world, to intimate portrayals of individuals and communities, this year’s Professional competition winners and finalists represent an extraordinary range of photographic practices from across the globe.

Notably, the ceremony also honoured this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient, the internationally acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado, whose distinctive black-and-white works have captured imaginations over the past five decades of his career. Salgado was recognised for his indelible contribution to the visual language of photography.

Additionally recognised at the gala ceremony were the overall winners of the Awards’ Open, Student and Youth competitions and this year’s Sustainability Prize winner. Championing photographers at different junctures of their careers, the Awards’ Open competition celebrates the power of a single image, whilst the Student and Youth Competitions spotlight the work of the next generation. Established last year, the Sustainability Prize platforms photographers highlighting a positive change for our planet.

The Sony World Photography Awards 2024 exhibition is on view at Somerset House, London from 19 April – 6 May 2024. Among the most exciting photography events in London’s spring cultural calendar, this major exhibition features over 200 prints, and hundreds of additional images in digital displays from the winning and shortlisted photographers and includes a retrospective of works by this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient, Sebastião Salgado.

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women by Juliette Pavy (France) is a documentary project exploring the severe and lasting impacts of the involuntary birth control campaign led by Danish authorities in Greenland in the 1960s and 1970s. This series examines the spiralkampagnen, in which several thousand Inuit women, some as young as 12, were implanted with intrauterine devices without their consent. The project traces the programme’s origins through to the present day, including the ongoing investigation by the Danish government.

Placing the victims’ perspectives at the forefront, the narrative structure of Pavy’s project is shaped by these difficult and important reflections on the collective trauma experienced by a community. The series uses a variety of photographic formats; from situating shots of the city of Nuuk and its clinical spaces, to X-ray imagery and archival photographs of the young women involved, alongside recent portraits of victims and of doctors who worked in Greenland during and after the programme, to the Danish parliamentarian investigating the spiralkampagnen in the present day.

Placing the victims’ perspectives at the forefront, the narrative structure of Pavy’s project is shaped by these difficult and important reflections on the collective trauma experienced by a community. The series uses a variety of photographic formats; from situating shots of the city of Nuuk and its clinical spaces, to X-ray imagery and archival photographs of the young women involved, alongside recent portraits of victims and of doctors who worked in Greenland during and after the programme, to the Danish parliamentarian investigating the spiralkampagnen in the present day.

Commenting on Pavy’s winning project, Monica Allende, Chair of the 2023 Professional Competition Jury says: ‘The Sony World Photography Awards jury lauded Juliette Pavy’s empathetic portrayal of her subjects, capturing them in a manner that is both dignified and profoundly intimate, thereby highlighting her exceptional talent. Pavy’s dedication to exposing the stark realities faced by marginalised communities, coupled with her compelling narrative approach, has not only earned her the prestigious recognition from the Sony World Photography Awards but also underscores the jury’s belief in her potential and the importance of supporting her career trajectory.

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNERS

The winning photographers in the Professional competition have been selected by a panel of expert judges for submitting an outstanding series of five to 10 images, displaying technical mastery and a strong approach to narrative. 

All category winners receive Sony’s digital imaging kit. This year’s winners are:

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

WINNER: Siobhán Doran (Ireland) for her series Sala Mayor (Living Room)

Finalists: 2nd place Karol Pałka (Poland); 3rd place Yaser Mohamad Khani (Islamic Republic of Iran)

CREATIVE

WINNER: Sujata Setia (United Kingdom) for her series A Thousand Cuts

Finalists: 2nd place Mackenzie Calle (United States); 3rd place Tine Poppe (Norway)

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS

WINNER: Juliette Pavy (France) for her series Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women

Finalists: 2nd place Brent Stirton (South Africa); 3rd place Davide Monteleone (Italy)

ENVIRONMENT

WINNER: Mahé Elipe (France) for her series Echoes of the Hive

Finalists: 2nd place Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni (Italy); 3rd place Maurizio Di Pietro (Italy)

LANDSCAPE

WINNER: Eddo Hartmann (Netherlands) for his series The Sacrifice Zone

Finalists: 2nd place Jim Fenwick (United Kingdom); 3rd place Fan Li (China Mainland)

PORTFOLIO

WINNER: Jorge Mónaco (Argentina) for his series Portraits and Landscapes

Finalists: 2nd place Aly Hazzaa (Egypt); 3rd place Angelika Kollin (Estonia)

SPORT

WINNER: Thomas Meurot (France) for his series Kald Sòl (Cold Sun)

Finalists: 2nd place Angelika Jakob (Germany); 3rd place Tommaso Pardini (Italy)

STILL LIFE

WINNER: Federico Scarchilli (Italy) for his series Flora

Finalists: 2nd place Peter Franck (Germany); 3rd place Beth Galton (United States)

WILDLIFE & NATURE

WINNER: Eva Berler (Greece) for her series Suspended Worlds

Finalists: 2nd place Haider Khan (India); 3rd place Jasper Doest (Netherlands)

To find out more about this year’s winning and finalist projects please visit our online winners galleries

SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE

Kathleen Orlinsky (United States) was announced as this year’s Sustainability Prize winner for her series America’s First Wilderness and won a $5,000 cash prize (USD)

Orlinsky’s series looks at the landscape, wildlife and people of the Gila Wilderness of southeastern New Mexico, exploring the conservation efforts which have gone into maintaining the untouched natural environment and protecting the biodiversity of the area. Orlinsky’s project looks at the ways in which the people inhabiting the wilderness peacefully coexist with the nature around them, and promote the conservation of this space.

Commenting on her win, Orlinsky says: ‘I am thrilled and honoured to be awarded, and especially excited to be able to raise awareness about pressing environmental and conservation issues right now in the throes of the climate crisis.

The Sustainability Prize is part of Creators for the Planet, a global year-round engagement programme set by Creo and developed in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and Sony Pictures, which recognises the stories, people and organisations whose actions highlight one of the United Nations’ environmental Sustainable Development Goals

OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

The Open competition celebrates the power and dynamism of a single image. Winning photographs are chosen for their ability to communicate a remarkable visual narrative combined with technical excellence. Chosen from the 10 Open category winners, Liam Man (United Kingdom) is Open Photographer of the Year 2024 and the recipient of the $5,000 (USD) cash prize, Sony digital imaging equipment and international exposure.

Liam Man won for his photograph Moonrise Sprites over Storr, depicting the well-known rock formation of the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, lit by drone lights and the rising orange moon. Taken late at night, during a powerful blizzard, this image highlights the vast mountainous landscape and the striking winter sky.  

Speaking of his win, Man says: ‘Every year, I admire the winning photographs and envision my work being displayed amongst them. Being selected as Open Photographer of the Year in the Sony World Photography Awards is a dream turned reality, and leaves me feeling deeply grateful, overjoyed and absolutely speechless!

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

For this year’s Student competition, photography students were invited to submit a series of five to 10 images responding to the brief of Home, highlighting their personal perspectives on place, community, identity and belonging. 

Kayin Luys (Belgium) of LUCA School of Arts Sint Lukas Brussels has been awarded the title of Student Photographer of the Year, winning Sony digital imaging equipment worth €30,000 for his university. Luys’s series Don’t Trust Pretty Girls is an intimate portrait of his in-laws, highlighting the ways in which he has come to know his partner’s family, and has become part of their day-to-day traditions and rituals.

Commenting on his win Luys says: ‘Photography has been an important way for me to further explore my surroundings. In my work, I relate to and take inspiration from the stories confided in me. I am touched and honoured that those big and small stories are reaching a wider audience and gaining further recognition, due to the Sony World Photography Awards.’

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

This year entrants to the Youth competition were invited to respond to the theme Through Your Eyes and share their unique understanding of the world around them. Selected from a shortlist of 10 photographers aged 19 and under, Daniel Murray (United Kingdom, 15 years-old) is the Youth Photographer of the Year, receiving Sony digital imaging kit and global exposure.

Murray’s photograph of a solitary surfer on an empty Cornish beach captures the quiet atmosphere of the end of the summer season, and the expansive beach landscapes of the English seaside. Through its soft tones, the image captures the warm light of late summer. 

Commenting on his win, Murray says: ‘I’m very happy and proud of myself, as this is a great achievement as a young photographer. This motivates me to keep going and improve as a photographer. Thanks to the Sony World Photography Awards for this opportunity!

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY

This year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize has been awarded to the esteemed photographer Sebastião Salgado. One of the most accomplished photographers working today, Sebastião Salgado has achieved international acclaim for his remarkable black-and-white compositions captured over a career spanning more than 50 years.

More than 40 images by the photographer will be on view at the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 exhibition at Somerset House. The selection, made by the photographer, highlights the key themes and milestones over the last five decades of his career, featuring works from his iconic early projects such as Gold (1986) and Workers (1993), and more recent bodies of work like Genesis (2011) and Amazônia (2019).

EDGAR MARTINS | SOLO PRESENTATION

In addition to the work of this year’s overall and category winners, the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition features a solo presentation by the 2023 Photographer of the Year winner Edgar Martins (Portugal).

The acclaimed photographer presents a selection of images from his series Anton’s hand is made of Guilt. No muscle or bone. He has a Gung-ho Finger and a Grief-stricken Thumb. Building on his winning project from 2023, Our War, this presentation showcases a long-term project of Martins’, commemorating the loss of his close friend, photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who was killed during the Libyan Civil War in 2011.

 

PROFESSIONAL COMPETITION FINALISTS AND SHORTLIST

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Category Winner

Siobhán Doran, Ireland

2nd Place: Karol Pałka, Poland

3rd Place: Yaser Mohamad Khani, Islamic Republic of Iran

Shortlist

Francesco Amorosino, Italy

Maciej Czarnecki, Poland

Joseph Horton, United Kingdom

Marc Koegel, Canada

Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist, Finland

Nick Ng, Malaysia

Albrecht Voss, Germany

CREATIVE

Category Winner

Sujata Setia, United Kingdom

2nd Place: Mackenzie Calle, United States

3rd Place: Tine Poppe, Norway

Shortlist

Daniela Balestrin, Brazil

Diana Cheren Nygren, United States

Peter Franck, Germany

Noru Innes, Finland

Lei Jiang, China Mainland

Romain Laurendeau, France

Qiu Yan, China Mainland

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS

Photographer of the Year

Juliette Pavy, France
2nd Place: Brent Stirton, South Africa

3rd Place: Davide Monteleone, Italy

Shortlist

Raphael Alves, Brazil

Ernesto Benavides, Peru

Natalia Garbu, Moldova

Eddo Hartmann, Netherlands

Jens Juul, Denmark

Frankie Mills, United Kingdom

Renaud Philippe, Canada

ENVIRONMENT

Category Winner

Mahé Elipe, France

2nd Place: Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni, Italy

3rd Place: Maurizio Di Pietro, Italy

Shortlist

Javier Arcenillas, Spain

Aletheia Casey, Australia

Sachin Ghai, India

Jonas Kakó, Germany

Maximilian Mann, Germany

Kathleen Orlinsky, United States

LANDSCAPE

Category Winner

Eddo Hartmann, Netherlands

2nd Place: Jim Fenwick, United Kingdom 

3rd Place: Fan Li, China Mainland

Shortlist

Liang Chen, China Mainland

Hendrik J. Hunter, Netherlands

Kevin Kraugartner, Germany

Alessio Paduano, Italy

Ekrem Sahin, Turkey

Yevhen Samuchenko, Ukraine

Haozheng Wu, Macao 

PORTFOLIO

Category Winner

Jorge Mónaco, Argentina

2nd Place: Aly Hazzaa, Egypt

3rd Place: Angelika Kollin, Estonia

Shortlist

Paweł Bojarski, Poland

Lydia Grizzle, United States

Horst Kistner, Germany

Anna Neubauer, Austria

Mojtaba Radmanesh, Islamic Republic of Iran

PORTRAITURE

Category Winner

Valery Poshtarov, Bulgaria

2nd Place: Adali Schell, United States

3rd Place: Drew Gardner, United Kingdom

Shortlist

Liang Chen, China Mainland

Owen Harvey, United Kingdom

Jiatong Lu, China Mainland

Michael O. Snyder, United States

SPORT

Category Winner

Thomas Meurot, France

2nd Place: Angelika Jakob, Germany

3rd Place: Tommaso Pardini, Italy

Shortlist

Lorenzo Foddai, Italy

Oles Kromplias, Ukraine

James Rokop, United States

Piotr Sadurski, Poland

Kai Schwörer, Germany

Luis Tato, Spain

Lucas Urenda, Chile

STILL LIFE

Category Winner

Federico Scarchilli, Italy

2nd Place: Peter Franck, Germany

3rd Place: Beth Galton, United States

Shortlist

William Abranowicz, United States

Raúl Belinchón Hueso, Spain

Kristina Kulakova, Austria

Helen McLain, United States

Michael Young, United States 

WILDLIFE & NATURE

Category Winner

Eva Berler, Greece
2nd Place: Haider Khan, India

3rd Place: Jasper Doest, Netherlands

Shortlist

Steven Begleiter, United States

Kathryn Cooper, United Kingdom

Massimo Giorgetta, Italy

Kathleen Orlinsky, United States

Jen Osborne, Canada

Jacques Smit, South Africa

Lukas Zeman, Czech Republic 

 

OPEN COMPETITION 2024 WINNERS AND SHORTLIST

ARCHITECTURE

Category Winner

Ana Skobe, Slovenia

Shortlist

Mark Benham, UK

Lim Chien Ting, Malaysia

Marcelo Cugliari, Argentina

Sophia Li, USA

Markus Naarttijärvi, Sweden

Anna Rossetti, Italy

Yang Shu, China Mainland

Chau Lun Shum, Hong Kong

Eng Tong Tan, Malaysia

Hadriel Torres, Italy

Siu Hang Andrew Tsang, UK

Sheng Wang, China Mainland

Huanzhen Yang, China Mainland

Xiangsheng Zhang, China Mainland

CREATIVE

Category Winner

Rob Blanken, Netherlands

Shortlist

Laurence Cabantous, France

Elizabeth Casasola, Mexico

Murray Chant, New Zealand

Jana Fašungová, Slovakia

Alastair McLellan, UK

Margit Lisa Roeder, Germany

Hiromichi Shimizu, Japan

Natalie Strohmaier, Germany

Yang Tongyu, China Mainland

Rob Trendy, UK

Maciej Wróblewski, Poland

Bin Yang, USA

Ann Zhulan, Ukraine

LANDSCAPE

Open Photographer of the Year

Liam Man, UK

Shortlist

Marco Capitanio, Italy

Barry Crosthwaite, USA

Garrett Davis, USA

Filip Hrebenda, Slovakia

Guangming Hu, China Mainland

Charles Janson, USA

Li Jun, China Mainland

Lisa K. Kuhn, USA

Juan Lopez Ruiz, Spain

Ivan Padovani, Malta

Vladimir Tadic, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Zhihe Yang, China Mainland

Marcin Zajac, Poland

LIFESTYLE

Category Winner

Alvin Kamau, Kenya

Shortlist

Sergio Attanasio, Italy

Anirudha (Robi) Chakraborty, USA

Tony Cowburn, UK

Argus Paul Estabrook, USA

Leo Huang, Taiwan

Philip Joyce, UK

Mahesh Pamidimarthi, India

Paul Robertson, Ireland

Amy Sacka, USA

Rosella Tapella, Italy

Catherine Wang, USA

MOTION

Category Winner

Samuel Andersen, Norway

Shortlist

Matteo Baronio, Italy

Serkan Dogus, Turkey

Jelly Febrian, Indonesia

ChenYu Hsieh, Taiwan

Thusitha Jayasundara, Sri Lanka

Herman Morrison, Indonesia

Andrew Moss, UK

Ron Ratner, USA

John Studwell, USA

Frederic Volpato, France

Sarah Wouters, Netherlands

F. Dilek Yurdakul, Turkey

Ryszard Zembrzuski, Poland

NATURAL WORLD & WILDLIFE

Category Winner

Ian Ford, UK

Shortlist

Christopher Baker, USA

Jesus Frias, Spain 

Stuart James, USA

Pedro Jarque Krebs, Peru

Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan, India

Jonathan McSwain, USA

Thien Nguyen Ngoc, Vietnam

Francis Principe-Gillespie, UK

Christopher Ratcliff Iverson, USA

Elodie Ruelleux-Dagorne, France

Rina Saito, Japan

Chris Schmid, Switzerland

Pui Sun Tang, Malaysia

Chee Kin Wong, Malaysia

OBJECT

Category Winner

Toni Rinaldo, Indonesia

Shortlist

Petia Angelova, Bulgaria

Robyn Barron, Australia

Martina Ceravolo, Italy

Aleksandra Garbarczyk, Poland

Ian Knaggs, UK

Tom Laszlo, Hungary

Doris Mangalu, United Republic of Tanzania

Marcos Medina Garcia, Spain

Daria Pietrasiewicz, Poland

Oliver Sequenz, Germany

Natalie Strohmaier, Germany

PORTRAITURE

Category Winner

Michelle Sank, UK

Shortlist

Frederic Aranda, UK

Jonah Atkins, Canada

Jon Enoch, UK

Mark Harrison, UK

Lloyd Jonathan Wright, UK

Andreas Kanellopoulos, Greece

Vladimir Karamazov, Bulgaria

Tetiana Nikitina, Ukraine

Maira Ray, Brazil

Tyler Schiffman, USA

Amadeusz Świerk, Poland

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Category Winner

Callie Eh, Malaysia

Shortlist

Sonia De Wit, Belgium

Deepbrata Dutta, India

Seyed Ali Hosseini Far, Islamic Republic of Iran

Kathryn Mussallem, Canada

Kathryn Mussallem, Canada

Panfil Pîrvulescu, Romania

Xavier Ponce, Ecuador

Manuel Sáez Campillos, Spain

Apolo Sales, Brazil

Stefano Valerio, Italy

Carlo Yuen, Hong Kong

TRAVEL

Category Winner

Yan Li, China Mainland

Shortlist

Matthew DeSantis, USA

Nicola Ducati, Italy

Wasiri Gajaman, Sri Lanka

Todd Kennedy, Australia

Setsuna Kurouzu, Japan

Oscar Manso, Spain

Cziráki Orsolya Boglárka, Hungary

Alexandre Pietra, Switzerland

Joy Saha, Bangladesh

Azlan Shah Sahubar Naina Mohamed, Malaysia

John Seager, UK

Tran Tuan Viet, Vietnam

Beatrice Wong, Hong Kong

Beatrice Wong, Hong Kong

 

STUDENT & YOUTH COMPETITION 2024 WINNERS AND SHORTLIST

STUDENT COMPETITION 2024

YOUTH COMPETITION 2024

Student Photographer of the Year

Kayin Luys, Belgium

LUCA School of Arts Sint Lukas, Brussels, Belgium

Shortlist

Brayan Enriquez, USA

Georgia State University, Ernest G Welch School of

Art and Design, USA

Frederik Rüegger, Germany

Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie, Germany

Gaoge Ouchen, China Mainland

Communication University of Zhejiang, China Mainland

Gaston Zilberman, Argentina

Motivarte, Argentina

Juan David Aguirre, Colombia

Universidad EAFIT, Colombia

Kazi Arifujjaman, Bangladesh

Counter Foto – a Center for Visual Arts, Bangladesh

Makaziwe Radebe, South Africa

Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town,

South Africa

Siphosethu Sanelisiwe Sikhosana, South Africa

University of Pretoria, South Africa

Yufei Ma, China Mainland

School of Visual Arts, USA

Youth Photographer of the Year

Daniel Murray, UK

Shortlist

Afiq Sharkawi, Malaysia

Chengchen Wang, China Mainland

Isaac Friend, UK

Joyce Xu, Australia

Kas Christiaens, Belgium

River Lewis-Gosch, USA

Shayna Cuenca, USA

Sebastián Fernández Lora, Spain

Zy Grei Zander M. Esperanza, Philippines

Fantastic Machine review – photography’s story from one camera to 45 billion

Fantastic Machine review – photography’s story from one camera to 45 billion

Some 20 years later, in California, Eadweard Muybridge settled a bet – as to whether a galloping horse maintains contact with the ground – by setting up a string of cameras to record the animal galloping past. When he flicked through the resulting sequence of stills, an illusion of movement was created, and film was born.

Fantastic Machine is a high octane trawl through the social history of the photographic image from those early beginnings until today. It focuses on how we have used photography and film since then and how, in turn, they have shaped us. 

In 1858, Elizabeth Eastlake wrote of photography, “its nature is to give evidence of the facts as minutely and impartially as only a machine can do.” And to this day, belief in the truth of the photographic image lingers on, despite our awareness of touch-up artists and airbrushing, of darkroom shenanigans, double exposures, and the trickeries of photoshop. Yet directors Axel Danielson and Maximilien van Aertryck fail to mention the ways in which images are routinely manipulated.

They also ignore the pressing issue of Artificial Intelligence. Given that AI is already creating fakes plausible enough to cause serious harm, you’d expect a documentary about the medium to address this dangerous development. And, sadly, the fact that Fantastic Machine steers clear of the subject makes it seem dated before it has even hit the screen.

ISIS fighters shooting a propaganda filmThe directors, however, do acknowledge falsehoods of other kinds. The title, for instance, comes from a ringing endorsement of the technology made by Edward VII on watching a film of his 1902 coronation – or, rather, a fabricated version of it. Cinematographer Georges Méliès staged the ceremony in a Paris studio using French actors and even included parts of the event that didn’t take place!

Ever since then, world leaders have been quick to exploit the medium’s potential for propaganda. Cue footage of Hitler, Stalin, Putin, Trump and Xi Jinping gazing heroically into the distance (pictured above: ISIS fighters shooting a recruitment video). Most surreal of all is a film of Kim Jong-Un galloping on a white charger through a snow-covered landscape above a caption that reads like a Google translation: “No-one on earth can get in the way of the partisan troop of Kim Jong-Un proceeding with firm conviction.” 

The most chilling moments come in an interview with Leni Riefenstahl, the filmmaker commissioned by Hitler to glorify the Nazi project. She glows with pride as she shows one of her favourite clips of a rally involving thousands of banner-wielding soldiers marching in step to a brass band. She describes how she orchestrated the shoot to bring out “the festive quality” of the event. “The editing,” she explains, “lends it a ballet-like quality, a rhythm. It’s cut exactly in time to the music.”

Sidney Bernstein, whose job was to document the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the end of World War II, explains that the success of propaganda films like Riefenstahl’s made it difficult for the Allies to convince the world of the validity of their footage of skeletal corpses being dragged towards a mass grave.

When Ireland’s national television channel was launched in 1961, President Éamon de Valera admitted in his speech to being afraid of the immense power of TV and radio. “Like atomic energy,” he says, “it can be used for incalculable good, but can also do irreparable harm.” 

The Johnstones watch TV. Still from Fantastic MachineForty years on, psychiatrist Park Dietz warned that media attention encourages copycat crimes and implored American news channels to make their coverage as boring as possible. “Every time we have intense saturation coverage of a mass murder,” he said, “we expect to see one or two more within a week.” Needless to say, his plea fell on deaf ears. Determined to outdo the competition, CNN continued to up the entertainment value of their news programmes. Their coverage of the 2020 presidential election was deliberately sensational. Flashed across the screen, the announcement read: “ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA… FROM THE FIRST VOTE TO THE CRITICAL COUNT, THE RACE ENDS HERE”.

Digital technology, which began invading our headspace in the early 2000s, was hailed by Chris Anderson, curator of the TED annual conference, as being “capable of conveying all of us to a smarter, wiser, more beautiful place.” And when the camera travels through the coaches of a commuter train, no-one pays any attention to it because they are all gawping at their smartphones.

A physiologist explains how images that trigger fear, joy, love, lust or anger activate the limbic system in our brains and induce the release of dopamine, creating a sense of reward. Whereas in the 1960s couch potatoes like Daryl Johnstone and his wife (pictured above) would sit in front of the box each night eating a TV dinner, we’ve now created a generation of dopamine junkies. Over 500 hours of footage are published every minute and, between them, thrill-seekers consume a billion hours of content on the Internet each day.

Some even dedicate their entire lives to the net. Take Paul Denino, for instance, who keeps his camera on 24/7 to livestream every minute of his night and day. Meanwhile, Belle Delphine (pictured below) markets herself as a cute little sexpot and keeps her subscribers happy by promising them hardcore porn.

Belle Delphine on the net in Ahegao face

Danielson and van Aertryck have nothing much to say about photography’s 200-year journey from that first black and white still of a back yard somewhere in France to the 500 hours of colourful footage published worldwide every minute of every day. Having done a brilliant job of amassing a wealth of thought-provoking material, they avoid drawing any conclusions from it. After making the somewhat misleading remark that “the camera sees what’s in front of it”, they simply ask where we go from here; which feels like a complete cop out.

The Voyager probe left the earth in 1977 to photograph our neighbouring planets and moons. Before leaving the solar system, it turned its camera towards the earth and photographed our planet as it had never been seen before – as a minuscule little dot floating in a vast expanse of blue. In comparison with the cacophany of noisy self-obsession broadcast every day on the net, the quiet emptiness of interstellar space looks remarkably inviting.

Framing foliage: Photography exhibition explores the thorny world …

Framing foliage: Photography exhibition explores the thorny world …
Martin_Riley_OntheBroads - Martin Riley

Hedge photography exhibition to launch in south east London gallery

The Gareth Gardner Gallery in Deptford is set to host Close to the Hedge, an upcoming exhibition delving into the allure of hedges for landscape, urban, and architectural photographers.

Scheduled to open later this month, the exhibition aims to unravel the fascination with these green boundaries.

The show stemmed from an open call for photographs centered on hedges, attracting submissions from across the globe.

“I was flabbergasted by the enormous response,” comments Gardner, an architectural photographer and self-identifying “hedge fancier” who is curating the show.

“It appears to be the secret obsession of a surprisingly large number of photographers. I thought I was the only one raising eyebrows by pointing my camera at hedges.”

Hybrid Smartphone Photography Systems

Hybrid Smartphone Photography Systems

The Beaverlab Tech Excope DT1 is an aftermarket solution for avid or amateur photographers alike to pair with their smartphone as a way to greatly accentuate their capabilities in the field. The hybrid camera system maintains a lightweight construction that includes a 48MP CMOS sensor and a Novatek AI processor alongside 64GB of onboard storage, dual-band WiFi and more. The unit can be used with one of two proprietary lens options to help users enjoy up to 36-times optical zoom and 200-times digital zoom.

The Beaverlab Tech Excope DT1 will work with your choice of smartphone by simply connecting to it over WiFi and will make use of the mobile device’s capabilities to intelligently capture a range of shots.

Image Credit: Beaverlab Tech

Best photos of the year confirmed – take a look at all the winning shots

Best photos of the year confirmed – take a look at all the winning shots

Sony’s iconic World Photography Awards are back with some of the greatest image creators being rewarded for their skills behind the camera. 10 coveted gongs have just been dished out during a prestigious ceremony in London with winners from across the globe picking up the top prizes.

Categories include Creative, Envoirmnet, Landscape, Still Life and Sport with the winners chosen thanks to their images and stories resonating with global audiences over the past year.

Along with awards for best photos, Sony also handed out its Photographer of the Year prize during the event. This year’s winner was Juliette Pavy who was praised for her series called Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women.

Pavy won a $25,000 (USD) cash prize, a range of Sony digital imaging equipment, and the opportunity to present a new body of work at the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 exhibition.

Notably, the ceremony also honoured this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient, the internationally acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado, whose distinctive black-and-white works have captured imaginations over the past five decades of his career. Salgado was recognised for his indelible contribution to the visual language of photography.

Additionally recognised at the gala ceremony were the overall winners of the Awards’ Open, Student and Youth competitions and this year’s Sustainability Prize winner.

“The Sony World Photography Awards jury lauded Juliette Pavy’s empathetic portrayal of her subjects, capturing them in a manner that is both dignified and profoundly intimate, thereby highlighting her exceptional talent,” said Monica Allende, Chair of the 2024 Professional Competition Jury.

“Pavy’s dedication to exposing the stark realities faced by marginalised communities, coupled with her compelling narrative approach, has not only earned her the prestigious recognition from the Sony World Photography Awards but also underscores the jury’s belief in her potential and the importance of supporting her career trajectory.”

Some of the images that won during the awards can be seen below but if you want to see all of the photos from the World Photography Awards then they will be on show at Somerset House, London until May 6 May.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
WINNER: Siobhán Doran (Ireland) for her series Sala Mayor (Living Room)

CREATIVE
WINNER: Sujata Setia (United Kingdom) for her series A Thousand Cuts

DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
WINNER: Juliette Pavy (France) for her series Spiralkampagnen: Forced Contraception and Unintended Sterilisation of Greenlandic Women

ENVIRONMENT
WINNER: Mahé Elipe (France) for her series Echoes of the Hive

LANDSCAPE
WINNER: Eddo Hartmann (Netherlands) for his series The Sacrifice Zone

PORTFOLIO
WINNER: Jorge Mónaco (Argentina) for his series Portraits and Landscapes

PORTRAITURE
WINNER: Valery Poshtarov (Bulgaria) for his series Father and Son

SPORT
WINNER: Thomas Meurot (France) for his series Kald Sòl (Cold Sun)

STILL LIFE
WINNER: Federico Scarchilli (Italy) for his series Flora

WILDLIFE & NATURE
WINNER: Eva Berler (Greece) for her series Suspended Worlds

Juliette Pavy: Sony World Photographer of the Year 2024

Juliette Pavy: Sony World Photographer of the Year 2024

Juliette Pavy’s documentary series explores the severe and lasting impacts of an involuntary birth control campaign led by Danish authorities in Greenland in the 1960s and 1970s. It examines the Spiralkampagnen, in which several thousand Inuit women and girls, some as young as 12 years old, had intrauterine devices implanted without their consent. The project traces the programme’s origins through to the present day, including the ongoing investigation by the Danish government.

Placing the victims’ perspectives at the forefront, the narrative structure of Pavy’s project is shaped by difficult and important reflections on the collective trauma experienced by a community. The series uses a variety of photographic formats, from situating shots of the city of Nuuk and its clinical spaces to X-ray imagery and archive photographs of the young women involved, alongside recent portraits of victims, doctors who worked in Greenland during and after the programme, and the Danish parliamentarian investigating the Spiralkampagnen today.

Juliette explains how she discovered the story: I was following the subject of Arctic women in the news, and in the daily press in Brittany I noticed a small AFP brief about the topic. I was very curious and I wanted to find out more. As I was already going to Greenland for another assignment, I followed up on the story, and began to meet with the women.”

Between 1966 and 1975, Greenlandic Inuit women were subjected to an involuntary birth control programme known as the Spiralkampagnen (“spiral campaign”). Led by the Danish authorities, nearly 4,500 intrauterine devices, otherwise known as coils or “spirals”, were implanted into Inuit women and girls, some as young as 12. Many of them say that the procedure was performed without their consent. The campaign was first widely publicised by a Danish podcast in spring 2022, and documents now prove that the authorities implemented the policy to reduce Inuit population growth. An official investigation has now been opened, which is set to conclude at the end of 2024.

In 2019, Naja Lyberth, a psychologist in Nuuk, told her story to a local newspaper. Following revelations of the existence of a Danish policy of forced contraception, she created a Facebook group that brought together other victims. “We have the right to own our bodies, and it is our human right to have children,” she said. Lyberth is trying to continue her fight for justice through international human rights organisations.

In May 2022, a Danish journalist, Celine Klint, discovered a document proving that Denmark had organised a policy of forced contraception for Greenlandic women in the 1960s and 1970s. These revelations led to an official inquiry into the campaign, which started in October 2022 and will run until the end of 2024.

After a school medical check-up, one of the victims, Jytte Lyberth, was sent to hospital and was asked to take off her clothes. She was never told what was going to happen. A few months later she experienced severe pain from the coil and returned to hospital to have it removed. Since then, she has been unable to have children.

In Nuuk itself, there are relatively few victims of the Spiralkampagnen compared with the total number of inhabitants. Aviaja Siegstad, who was a gynaecologist in the 1990s, thinks this may be due to the capital’s mixed population. Local doctors may also have been probably more resistant to the contraceptive policy.

Siegstad would regularly see women with fertility problems only to discover that – unbeknown to them – they had had an IUD or “spiral” fitted. This happened quite often, but her department put it down to the work of unscrupulous doctors. They had no idea it had been a political choice. She said: “For me, the crime in this is the political decision, and the systematic use of prevention to reduce a population.”

These IUDs were far too large and unsuitable for the bodies of young teenage girls. In addition to the pain and bleeding, the spirals sometimes caused serious infections that have made some victims permanently sterile.

One gynaecologist who became chief of the village of Maniitsoq in the 1970s said: “Spirals were what we had, what was available to us … The instruction was from the Danish authority. There was a social problem in Greenland [and] many young women were having their first child at the age of 15 or 16. It’s so easy to see it afterwards. The doctors thought they were doing something good, but it was terribly stupid … I wasn’t a particularly good chief. I have no doubt about that. I could have done much better. I regret it today.”

The Danish politician Trine Pertou Mach is a member of the leftwing government and responsible for Arctic development issues. She is closely following the current investigation. She has been making it her role to remind the government that this inquiry was promised, and to urge them to act on it – in particular, by validating the timetable and following the taskforce’s deadlines.

The birthrate halved in the years after the Spiralkampagnen.

Monica Allende, the chair of the 2024 professional competition jury, said: “The jury lauded Juliette Pavy’s empathic portrayal of her subjects, capturing them in a manner that is both dignified and profoundly intimate, thereby highlighting her exceptional talent. Pavy’s dedication to exposing the stark realities faced by marginalised communities, coupled with her compelling narrative approach, has not only earned her the prestigious recognition from the Sony World Photography awards but also underscores the jury’s belief in her potential and the importance of supporting her career trajectory.”

Nuclear fields and insect feasts: The Sony World Photography awards

Nuclear fields and insect feasts: The Sony World Photography awards
image

Beth Galton: ‘As an artist and a person finding themselves in the later part of life, it has become essential for me to re-evaluate and prioritise how I move through the world. Walking to my studio, I pass a line of London plane trees, and have noticed that they shed their bark. The tree is growing rapidly, and the bark is unable to expand as quickly as the tree enlarges. This fascinating process resonates with me, so I created this photographic series, which consists of cast-off bark with manipulated self-portraits’