11 astounding images that show nature at its most powerful, beautiful and heartbreaking
11 astounding images that show nature at its most powerful, beautiful and heartbreaking
A camera-shy member of the group holds aloft a prize cabbage. With the regular
addition of manure and plot-generated compost, the vegetable crop became more
abundant and, in the case of their cabbage variety, quite impressive, with little pest
activity present. Cabbages have proved to be another much in-demand green
vegetable as it is versatile, easy to prepare and packed with vitamins.
Earth Photo has announced its 2026 shortlist, featuring powerful photographs and films by incredible photographers and filmmakers from around the world.
This year’s shortlist is among the most diverse in the programme’s history, spanning documentary and fine art, drone photography and printmaking, short film and long-exposure landscape images.
The Earth Photo competition celebrates images on environmental and political subjects, seeking to encourage conversations about our world and the challenges we face.
Here are some of our favourites from this year's image shortlist.
I N S C T S 08 by Umberto Diecinove
Inside a black soldier fly breeding room in Italy. To farm the species outside its tropical environment, artificial conditions must be recreated. Photo by Umberto Diecinove
Chuam Rock by Seok Lee
Chuam Chotdaebawi (Chotdae Rock), on the east coast of Gangwon-do, South Korea. This image was captured just before dawn, in a moment suspended between darkness and light. A rectangular beam of light is physically projected onto the rock formation on site, responding to its surface and scale. The cool tone of the light echoes the pre-dawn atmosphere, aligning artificial colour with the natural transition of the sky. Photo by Seok Lee
The cabbage by Anne-Marie Briscombe
A camera-shy member of 'International Men’s Shed' holds aloft a prize cabbage. The group is made up of volunteers – mainly men in later life – who meet weekly to tend a plot of land beside a community orchard on the outskirts of a Cotswold market town in the UK. Photo by Anne-Marie Briscombe
Fight for home by K M Asad
A wildlife bridge gives access for elephants to cross the Dohazari Cox’s Bazar railway. The line cuts through approximately 27km of protected forest, including the Chunati and Fasiakhali Wildlife Sanctuaries – both critical elephant habitats in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo by K M Asad
Forensicfinger prints on ivory by Britta Jaschinski
Using a newly-developed magnetic powder, Mark Moseley (a forensic investigator at London’s Metropolitan Police) dusts for and detects human fingerprints on an elephant tusk confiscated at Heathrow Airport, UK. Over 200 fingerprinting kits based on this technology were distributed to border forces across 40 countries in Africa and Asia. The results were immediate. In Kenya, evidence recovered using one kit led to 15 arrests, including five police officers, and the seizure of 11 elephant tusks. Photo by Britta Jaschinski
Most rapidly changing island in the world by Natalya Saprunova
Pelly Island (in North-Western Canada) is made up of permafrost, and thanks to rising air temperatures and more coastal storms is eroding at the rate of 46m per year as the permafrost melts underneath. This makes Pelly Island one of the fastest-changing islands in the world, showcasing the profound impacts of climate change in the region. Photo by Natalya Saprunova
Dense waters by Neal Haddaway
Farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are held in open sea pens in salmon farms across Scotland and Norway. The fish are held at high densities, resulting in high parasite loads and disease. Animal welfare is a major concern, with constant investigations into high mortality rates. In the wild, salmon take years to mature and leave their birth rivers, before mating at sea and returning through a miraculous migration using their sense of smell to their own birth rivers to breed. Farmed fish typically mature within a few years - the result of selective breeding and high-protein feeds. Photo by Neal Haddaway
Svartsengi volcanic system, Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, pictured in November 2024. At this point, Lava was being discharged at an estimated 1,500 cubic metres per second, produced by a 3.5 km long fissure, sending fast moving flows across the ground and carving these parallel channels that branch and merge like a river system. Photo by Marco Di Marco
Symbiosis by Giacomo d'Orlando
Local divers are preparing to install artificial reef structures at a coral restoration site in Jemeluk, Bali. The initiative, led by the NGO Perkumpulan Pemandu Penyelam Amed (P3A), aims to support reef recovery in areas affected by unsustainable fishing practices and coral loss. Photo by Giacomo d'Orlando
Every crime leaves a trace by Britta Jaschinski
This image demonstrates a new method for securing forensic evidence that can help to catch poachers and animal traffickers. Special fluorescent powder dyes, photographed under ultraviolet light, reveal hand and fingerprints, blood and other bodily fluids, gunpowder residue, and more. Wildlife forensic expert Dr. Alexandra Thomas from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Louise Gibson from the Wildlife Crime and Forensics Unit of the Zoological Society of London are developing such methods to assist law enforcement. Six of the world's seven sea turtle species are classified as threatened, endangered, or critically endangered due to human persecution, habitat destruction, or marine pollution. Photo by Britta Jaschinski
Volcanic Gaze by Antonio Avelar
The Mount Yasur volcano of Tanna Island, Vanuatu, is the home of Ni-Vanuatu people, and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The local people see the volcano as their great ancestor, and is referred to as 'grandfather' in the Ni-Vanuatu's local dialect. Photo by Antonio Avelar
Group visual editor for BBC Countryfile, BBC Wildlife and BBC Science Focus
James Cutmore is the group visual editor for BBC Countryfile, BBC Wildlife and BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked as a picture editor for over two decades, telling compelling science and nature stories through the use of striking imagery.
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
