Tokyo Foto Awards - 2021

Jacha wins Bronze in Science/Environment category.

Wildlife photography is not easy. It takes a lot of time and patience to get the shot. Also wildlife is unpredictable so you need to be able to react quickly.  To receive recognition for your photography is always special. So Jacha was very happy to hear he had won bronze in the Tokyo Foto Awards.

On a visit to India a couple of years ago Jacha came across the Guwahati garbage dump. The dump is a huge pile of stinking rubbish that is picked through by humans and wildlife. It is an attack on your senses, you can smell it before you see it and then when you do set eyes on it, the horror takes your breath away. Young children, adults and a variety of birds and mammals forage through the pile whilst heavy machinery continuously brings more rubbish.

The Greater Adjutant Stork is one of the bird species that forage through the dump, they are also the most endangered stork in the world. The storks are under threat from the contaminated dump, as pollutants are disposed of along with carcasses and food. Jacha entered a selection of his shots into the Tokyo Foto Awards. The category he entered was Science/Environment, he named his entry, Survival on a Plastic Wasteland. He wanted to highlight the awfulness of the dump to a wider audience. Jacha is passionate about protecting the natural world and using his voice for those that cannot speak.