Spotlight
Announcing the results of Harvard University's 'Planetary Health Alliance' Open Call for Visual Storytellers
planetary health alliance
Feb 15, 2019
The PHA open call was an exclusive opportunity for Visura members to submit visual stories depicting the human health impacts of human-caused disruptions of Earth's natural systems. The selection committee was led by Christopher Golden/ Associate Director of Planetary Health Alliance with Rebecca Gaal/ Photographer and Adriana Teresa Letorney/ Founder of Visura.co.
The winner is Brazilian photographer Júlia Pontés!
The winner is Júlia Pontés for her visual story titled 'Ó Minas Gerais | Our Land, My Landscape, an aerial portrayal and documentation of the human and environmental devastation caused by the collapse of a mining dam in her hometown Brazilian State of Minas Gerais on November of 2018. Considered one of the biggest environmental disasters in the country’s history, the accident resulted in over 10.5 billion gallons of mud overwhelming smalls towns and one of the country’s most important watersheds.
Born in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Júlia Pontés is a drone pilot, aerial photographer, and photographic printer based between São Paulo, New York, Buenos Aires, and Mumbai. In 2015, Júlia graduated at the International Center of Photography. Since she has been chosen twice for the Emerging Immigrant Artist Program by the New York Foundation for the Arts, and granted a Lillian Disney Scholarship from CalArts and the Allan Sekula Social Documentary grant.
A note from Christopher Golden, Associate Director of the Planetary Health Alliance:
The Planetary Health Alliance team was visually impressed with Julia's high-quality photos and touched by the tragic story of her work, documenting an environmental tragedy in her own home. The beauty of the photographs belies the reality of environmental change and how these impacts affect the lives of so many people in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil. We hope that artists and journalists continue to document and tell stories about planetary health topics so that we can reach the minds and hearts of the public, communicating the potential upside of managing natural systems to benefit human health.
Congratulations to the finalist, the honorable mentions and to all in the Visura community who participated in this open call.
THE FINALIST + HONORABLE MENTIONS ARE...
Finalist:
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The Planetary Health Alliance also extended an invitation to join
the new PHA Curated Database of Visual Storytellers to:
the new PHA Curated Database of Visual Storytellers to:
Prize
Winner Júlia Pontés received a unique paid opportunity to feature one image from the recognized project on the homepage of the organization's website. She will receive a $1000 compensation stipend paid by PHA for the use of the image(s) on its homepage. The photographer is being credited at the bottom of the image with a link to her Visura Profile.
Planetary Health Alliance Curated Database of Visual Storytellers
The Planetary Health Alliance is creating its own curated database of visual storytellers, which serves to highlight visual storytellers working on visual stories on public health, starting with visual stories depicting the human health impacts of human-caused disruptions of Earth's natural systems.
Ten visual storytellers, including the winner, finalist, and honorable mentions, have received an invitation to join the database.
About the Planetary Health Alliance
The Planetary Health Alliance is a consortium of over 120 dedicated universities, NGOs, government entities, research institutes, and other partners around the world committed to advancing planetary health. PHA forges collaboration across a broad array of scientific disciplines, as well as with decision-makers, movement builders, and local communities, to build a rigorous evidence base for informing policy solutions aimed at optimizing both human health and environmental stewardship objectives. The PHA is co-housed by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard University Center for the Environment
ANNOUNCING THE WINNER & HONORABLE MENTIONS OF THE PHA OPEN CALL
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