Carmignac Photojournalism Award 10th edition — The Amazon

Tommaso Protti
"Amazônia"

Saatchi Gallery, London
Exhibition: 9 June - 18 July, 2021
www.saatchigallery.com

Photo Festival "L'Evénement Photographique"
Outdoor Exhibition: 5 June - 30 July, 2021
Jardin du Palais du Gouvernement gates, Nancy
evenement-photographique.fr

Rencontres Photographiques de Guyane in Cayenne, French Guiana
Outdoor Exhibition: 6 - 30, 2021
www.rencontresphotographiquesdeguyane.com

The 10th Carmignac Photojournalism Award was dedicated to the Amazon and the issues related to its deforestation. It was awarded to Tommaso Protti.

Between 2019 and 2020, Protti traveled to the deepest corners of the Amazon to document the rainforest's ongoing destruction and bear witness to the environmental, humanitarian, and social crisis resulting from this catastrophe.

The Amazon accounts for half of the remaining tropical forests on the planet and is home to 70% of the world’s biodiversity, but the development of economic activities in the region means that this ecosystem is under more threat than ever before. Protti recounts the retreating of the region and the damage inflicted by its deforestation, with scenes of illegal gold mines gnawing voraciously into the subsoil, jungle cemeteries where stranded trees form tombstone crosses, abject killings to steal a few acres of land or a pinch of drugs, unhealthy favelas burned by devastating fires, scenes of drunkenness, prostitution or cocaine-laced insanity in the heat of these tropical mean streets.

His deeply personal vision resonates with current events and concerns about the future of our planet and its ecosystem. His photographs raise awareness of the local, and global, degradation currently taking place in the Amazon due to climate change and human activity, while offering a glimpse into the modern everyday life of one of the world’s most extraordinary regions and its inhabitants.

The exhibition at Saatchi Gallery includes images from August 2020. Tommaso Protti went back to the Amazon to document the fires that were raging again. Traveling along BR-163, the controversial road built in the 1970s during the dictatorship to open up the jungle to colonization, he also investigated the impact of Covid-19 on indigenous communities living in the area.

More information: www.saatchigallery.com