The picture that cleared the rubbish

Adityakrishna S Menon's Image

Adityakrishna S Menon (India) highlights a shoreline of illegally dumped waste advancing into an emerald sea of taro leaves.

To record the extent of illegal waste disposal at the edge of the estuary, Adityakrishna stood on the balcony of his uncle's 19th-floor apartment. Having waited for the Sun to go down to avoid shadows, he composed this startling image.

Once fringed with mangroves, this part of the estuary is now overrun with taro, a tropical plant that typically grows in swamps. The spread of taro is symptomatic of pollution in the estuary. Taro thrives on the nutrients in the dumped waste, outcompeting the mangroves. After seeing Adityakrishna's shocking image, a local journalist decided to produce a documentary highlighting the issue. Following the piece the site was cleaned up and dumping waste in this area is now prohibited.


Behind the lens

Adityakrishna S Menon

Adityakrishna S Menon

India

Adityakrishna is an environmental photojournalist. He works on conceptual nature photography, creative nature photography and documentary storytelling. He started his photographic journey when he was 12 and has been a nature lover for as long as he can remember. Adityakrishna aims to raise awareness about the relationship between people and nature through visual storytelling.

Image details

  • Nikon D5600
  • 18–55mm f3.5 lens
  • 1/25 sec at f11 (+1.67 e/v)  •   ISO 200
  • Thrikkakara, Kerala, India
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