After winning $200,000 in the world's richest photo competition, HIPA Sustainability winner Liping Cao hopes his photo of a lake in Australia will raise awareness of climate change and environmental pollution.
‘Quiet Power’ shows a wind farm on the shores of Lake George, New South Wales, under some moody clouds and is an interesting juxtaposition of the power of nature and renewable energy.
There are many ways the image can be interpreted, which is presumably why the panel of judges made it the overall winner for the 'Sustainability' theme.
Lake George is a freshwater lake that tends to evaporate in periods of prolonged drought. Liping’s image was captured in May 2021, but rainfall refilled the lake by the end of that year.
“The lake was already dry when I was there,” he recalls. “I passed by this place by chance at the time and happened to see a big dark cloud and the wind turbines underneath it.”
Using his Canon EOS 5D Mark III and its kit lens – an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM – Liping captured the frame in colour and converted it to black and white during editing.
“Black and white shows more levels of detail and is more suitable for experiencing environmental impact,” he said. And these impacts shouldn’t be ignored, he added.
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“I was thinking about climate change and the impact of pollution of the environment on people – human beings are a big danger [to the environment]. Climate change is the biggest crisis facing mankind, I believe.”
Liping then referred to the 2019 bushfire in Australia which burnt 59 million acres and killed or displaced 1.5 billion animals.
When asked if a photo like this can do any good and effect change, he said: “I chose to enter this picture in the HIPA competition to attract the attention of all the photographers in the world, and I want them to join others in trying to protect the environment.
“We cannot control nature, but we should use technology like wind turbines to generate more of our electricity.
"If we don’t, then dry lakes like these are the future – [Lake George] was a very big lake in 2019, but in 2020 there was no water.”
When asked how winning $200,000 will change his life and his photography, Liping said that he wanted to travel and undertake more photo projects, to continue raising awareness of climate change and over-development, which he feels are the “biggest threats facing human beings”.
Based in Australia, Liping returns to China regularly but loves the landscapes of his adopted country – hopefully, more photos like this will help reinforce how precious our environment is, and the importance of helping protect it.
Discover more about Lake George and its water levels with this helpful explainer from 9News in Sydney, Australia.
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