Earth Commission
Ed Kashi, from series Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance, White hands covered in the clay that dries and hardens the mahampy reeds used for weaving fencing and the manufacture of baskets and mats. Madagascar, 2010.
The Prix Pictet Commission is an invitation from the Partners of the Pictet Group to one of the nominated photographers to undertake a field trip to a region where the Bank are supporting a sustainability project run by a charity or other NGO.
The Earth commission supported the work of Azafady, a UK charity and Malagasy-registered NGO that helps the poorest communities in Madagascar develop sustainable ways of living and increase local access to healthcare and education.
American photographer Ed Kashi was invited to undertake this commission.
Pictet made a specific commitment to Azafady’s Voly Hazo project, which aims, through tree planting and preservation of the natural forest, both to preserve the soil from degradation and to halt the progress of desertification.
Madagascar is classified as one of the world’s top three ‘hotspots’ for biodiversity, yet it is also one of the poorest and most environmentally challenged countries in the world. Through Kashi’s pictures, we see the compromised beauty of this threatened island.
Ed Kashi, from series Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance, Breaking rocks for the construction business is a recent example of the land once again constituting a critical resource for the local population. Madagascar, 2010., ©2010/Ed Kashi
Ed Kashi, from series Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance, Fishermen from the village of Sainte Luce return with their early morning catch which will include pregnant lobsters whose eggs will be illegally removed so that they can be sold freely on international markets. Madagascar, 2010., ©2010/Ed Kashi
The island should be thickly covered with trees. But instead of the living green of vegetation, the land is pitilessly scoured. […] This is not from commercial logging. The trees fall at the hands of poverty-stricken Malagasy, who need to feed their children. It’s one of the most massive modern ecological disasters yet catalogued, and it has unfolded mostly over the past thirty years.
Ed Kashi, from series Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance, Women bathe and brush their teeth in a local swamp near the village of Ambandrika. Accepting the constant health risks, they trust and use nature’s resources in every aspect of their lives. Madagascar, 2010. , ©2010/Ed Kashi
Ed Kashi, from series Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance. Workers saw giant logs down to size before burning them in earthen mounds to form charcoal, the primary source of fuel and an important source of income for the Malagasy population. Charcoal production remains a major cause of Madagascar’s deforestation. Madagascar, 2010., ©2010/Ed Kashi
This Commission for the Prix Pictet is in direct response to the global cry to stop and take responsibility, seen through the dignified and vibrant people of south-east Madagascar, in a cross-examination of the intricate ties that bind them to the earth.
Ed Kashi, from series , Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance, Women from drought-hit villages use small cups to gather silt-water lying in glutinous pools of mud – their drinking water for the day. Madagascar, 2010., ©2010/Ed Kashi
Madagascar: A Land Out Of Balance
The Prix Pictet Earth Commission catalogue presents Ed Kashi’s photographs that show the compromised beauty of Madagascar. Pictet & Cie supported Azafady’s Voly Hazo project, which aims to preserve forest soil from degradation and to halt the progress of desertification.
The photographs are accompanied by texts from Ed Kashi, photographer and photojournalist; Samm Short, writer and project development specialist working for Azafady; Helena Drysdale, author of Dancing with the Dead, a journey through Zanzibar and Madagascar; and Peter Aspden, Arts Writer at the Financial Times.
Helena Drysdale writes of Madagascar, ‘In the south, the failure of the rains has speeded up the desertification. The Masoala Peninsula has become a national park, but this has not prevented the pillaging of the rainforests by illegal loggers – aided by French shippers and the Malagasy government – or the subsistence farmers’ slash and burn. Madagascar’s soil continues to bleed unquenched into the Indian Ocean, and the Great Red Island slowly but inexorably dies.’
To order a copy of the catalogue please contact Candlestar.
Earth Shortlist
Nadav Kander, Yangtze, The Long River, 2006-2007
Darren Almond, Fullmoon, 1998-2010
Christopher Anderson, Capitolio, 2004-2009
Sammy Baloji, Memory, 2006
Edward Burtynsky, Quarries, 1991-2006
Andreas Gursky, Body of Work, 2002
Ed Kashi, Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta, 2004-2006
Naoya Hatakeyama, Blast, 1995-2010
Abbas Kowsari, Shade of Earth, 2007-2008
Yao Lu, New Mountain and Water, 2007
Edgar Martins, The Diminishing Present, 2005-2008
Chris Steele-Perkins, Mount Fuji, 2000-2001