DariusHimes

I received an email announcement today from David Maisel, a fantastic photographer who has published several monographs with Nazraeli Press and Chronicle Books, stating that he had just been shortlisted for the Prix Pictet. In my head, I said, “the what?” This is what I found:

“There has been much talk about climate change. But not much about where we will see its first impact: water.

Flooding. Drought. Contamination. Water is the vector of climate change. By 2010 an estimated 40 per cent of the world’s poorest people will lack access to clean water. Two hundred million may be physically or economically displaced.

This is not the future. This is now.

The Prix Pictet is a major new global prize in photography that focuses on perhaps the greatest single issue of the twenty-first century: sustainability. The award is sponsored by Pictet & Cie, in association with the Financial Times.

With a single annual prize of CHF 100,000, the Prix Pictet will reward photographers and the images they use to tell stories of urgent global significance. Each year the Prix Pictet will focus on a distinct sustainability theme. The theme for 2008 is water.”

Pretty serious business. And pretty cool, too. David is shortlisted with an amazing list of photographers who span the world. Congrats, David.