Mapping The Death of Mangrove Forest

• Prize
  Silver in Editorial/Environmental
• Photographer
  Payal Kakkar
• Technical Info
  Dji Mavic 2 Pro, Gopro Hero 11 Black
• Photo Date
  2021 - 2024

The body of work is a chronicle of subsequential death of 2 mangrove forests over a period of 4 years (2021-2024) in Goa, India and encourages to reimagine the significance of mangroves in times of rising temperatures and sea levels. In 2021, 70,000 Sq.meter of mangrove forests in Merces, Goa was destroyed as building debris withheld tidal waters from entering the landlocked mangrove forest leading to an increase in salinity of the brackish waters. 1,141,000 Sq.meter of mangrove forest was destroyed in my village, Corlim, due to fresh water floods caused by opening of all gates of Anjumen Dam.

Payal Kakkar is a self-taught artist using the camera as an activist tool that blurs the lines between documentary and art photography. She lives in Delhi and since 2014 has lived part of the year in Goa.The 2018 Kerala floods pushed her to study the human impact on ecosystems. Since then, she has used her photographic practice to have a more immediate impact on conservation efforts, often working alongside environmental and community activists. Her works focus on landscapes impacted by human activity, exploring the impact of extraction and over-consumption on the communities who live there.