A buzz of excitement filled the room as the One Earth Photography Competition Awards Evening unfolded. Our Top 60 finalists, accompanied by their families and friends, walked through the doors carrying a sense of pride, anticipation, and hope. They already knew they had earned a place among the best, selected from over 450 submissions, an achievement in itself. But the question on everyone’s mind remained: Was there more to celebrate?
For the second consecutive year, the competition brought together remarkable stories of nature through photography.
This year also marked a special milestone as our Video Category celebrated its very first winners, showcasing conservation through the power of motion and storytelling.
Organised by Dilmah Ceylon Tea, together with Dilmah Conservation and Genesis, the One Earth Photography Competition stands apart because it is not only about capturing the beauty of wildlife, it is about understanding the deeper messages of coexistence, resilience, and conservation – the unnoticed biodiversity thriving around us, the challenges faced by wildlife under increasing human pressure, or the actions taken to protect our natural heritage.
This year’s categories reflected these important perspectives, and the photos that stood out had embraced these themes with creativity, patience, and purpose:
Life in a Changing World
A changing world demands adaptation. Across this category, photographers captured the realities of wildlife navigating landscapes shaped by human activity.
A changing coastline in Mannar, told a story of coexistence and adaptation. In the background, the construction of the Mannar harbour reshapes the landscape, while seabirds continue to use this altered environment as part of their habitat. The image reminds us that wildlife does not simply disappear when landscapes change, instead, many species attempt to adjust, survive, and find new ways to exist alongside our developments.
In another powerful capture, a male peacock continues an age-old courtship ritual as a farmer passes by on his tractor. Its beauty has the power to make us stop and watch. Perhaps that pause is its greatest lesson that we are not simply passing through our world, but through theirs too.
Capturing a heartbreaking reality, this photograph showed a Sri Lankan Rhino-horned Lizard found dead, run over by a passing vehicle. The scene captured at Horton Plains is a reminder that conservation is not only about protecting the charismatic species we travel to see. While many visitors hope to catch a glimpse of leopards and other iconic wildlife, countless smaller creatures face unseen dangers. In our rush to experience the extraordinary, we must not forget the equally valuable lives that quietly hold ecosystems together.
Biodiversity in Your Backyard
Nature does not only exist in forests and protected areas. It thrives around us, often unnoticed, in the spaces we call home.
Chathura De Silva’s photograph challenges our first impressions. A crow appears to have preyed upon a squirrel, but the story behind the image reveals something different. The squirrel was the victim of a road accident, and the crow, guided by survival instincts, took the opportunity provided by an unexpected source of food. The image reminds us that every interaction in nature has a story – one that may not always be what it first appears.
Another image reveals the incredible organisation of a colony of ants.Major worker ants march together, carrying the pupae of virgin queens after their nest has been disturbed by a sudden intrusion. Their priority is the protection and relocation of their vulnerable young.
Even the smallest creatures demonstrate complex systems of survival and cooperation when we take the time to observe.
Conservation in Action
Conservation is not just an idea – it is action, effort, and a commitment to protecting the natural world, and this photo adds a more valid point about the urgency for conservation efforts.
A bull elephant rushing towards a road, leading a herd of nearly a hundred behind him, captured by Danuja. Ironically, the herd passed beneath a billboard promising protection for elephants along this route, but that promise was still years away from becoming reality, but their journey cannot wait.
Selecting the best
While our judging panel, comprising of
- Mendis Wickremasinghe – Ecologist, Herpetologist & Master Wildlife Photographer
- Rishani Gunasinghe – Wildlife Photographer & Conservationist
- Mahesh De Silva – Wildlife Photographer
- Mohan Fernando – Filmmaker,
had the difficult responsibility of selecting the winning entries, we also invited the public to be part of the celebration. Through the People’s Choice Award, they voted for their favourites, not just one, but six.
Celebrating Every Story
The evening concluded with, shared celebrations, and the opening of the exhibition, where the incredible collection of shortlisted work could be admired by all.
Congratulations to all our winners, finalists, and participants. Every image submitted was a reminder that nature has countless stories waiting to be told and through your lenses, these stories reach a wider audience.
The exhibition continued into the next day, welcoming even more visitors who came to explore the remarkable collection of photographs and celebrate the beauty of Sri Lanka’s biodiversity.
