Lasse Bak Mejlvang (Denmark), Smokey Mountain. Location- Manila, Philippines
Syngenta Photography Award winners have been announced and their works are now on show in an exhibition at Somerset House centred round the themes of scarcity and waste.
The show is a freebie and certainly worth checking out. Subject matter is rather a bummer but important to consider (do “we” in the “rich world” really have any idea what happens to our trash once it’s tossed in the bin and out of sight?) and thoughtfully exhibited through especially engaging photography. Viewers should leave the exhibition with at least a glimmer of hope for a more equitable future with less careless use of resources as recent initiatives dealing with the dire consequences of scarcity and attempting to reduce waste significantly are highlighted throughout.
Particularly engaging pieces in the show include Camille Michel’s images of material “abandonment” in Greenland; Richard Allenby-Pratt’s photos documenting the waste and mind-boggling scale of rapid development in the UAE; and Lasse Bak Mejlvang’s captures of daily life in Manilas Smokey Mountain community built in and around a city landfill.
Syngenta Photography Award 2015: Scarcity-Waste is open to the public now and runs until 10 April at East Wing Galleries, Somerset House, WC2R 1LA. Admission is Free. Find out more at scarcitywaste.syngentaphoto.com.
