Through Southern Lenses Photography Award
International photography competition for developing countries showcasing climate change and human resilience. $20,000 prize for best photo essay.
The Through Southern Lenses Photography Award is an international competition celebrating photographers from developing countries in the global South who visually document climate change, ecosystem transformations, and human resilience. This unique platform emphasizes visual storytelling to highlight environmental challenges and community responses to climate pressures.
The award focuses on three main themes: Glaciers and Deserts (contrasting water and aridity, ice and sand, resilience and transformation), Climate Change Impacts (shifting ecosystems and community adaptation), and Human and Ecological Resilience (vulnerabilities, survival strategies, and local innovation). Participants are encouraged to create cohesive narratives showing interconnections between climate, ecosystems, and human adaptation in developing countries.
Eligible participants include individual photographers or groups of photographers from developing countries. All authors must be from the global South, and submissions must consist of original photographs produced within the last five years. The competition awards $20,000 to the best photo essay, with recognition across FCW and TWAS platforms and potential for exhibition or publication.
Submissions require exactly 10 photographs that narrate environmental and societal transformations without textual explanation. All images must be original, AI-free, and produced within the last five years. Photographers must provide proof of production dates and signed consent forms from all identifiable individuals in the photos. Only one entry per photographer or group is permitted, and joint submissions must ensure no author appears in more than one photo essay.
Evaluation criteria include technical quality and composition, aesthetic value and originality, coherence and strength of visual storytelling, and cultural relevance and environmental context. Selected photographers must provide high-resolution files after announcement. The competition emphasizes strict compliance with originality rules and UNESCO principles on personal data protection.