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Photograph “Glued On” has taken out the Editorial category award in the 2022 Sony Alpha Awards photography competition.

The Alpha Awards “celebrate the greatest images from across Australia and New Zealand, captured on Sony Alpha cameras and lenses” and “aim to reinvigorate and reconnect photographers across the region, reward professionals and enthusiasts alike, and provide a platform to showcase the very best Alpha Photography work.”

Entries into the Editorial category which were shortlisted were asked to submit a written statement as well as a series of five images ro contextualise the entry for judging. Below is the description that I submitted along with this entry:

Activists from climate and environment activist movement Extinction Rebellion coordinated a condensed and sustained series of non violent direct actions (NVDA) in late March/early April 2022 with the intent of disrupting the activities of ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel companies, while also drawing attention to the complicity of these companies in fuelling global warming.

 

Most of these actions took the form of blockades of fossil fuel infrastructure, particularly fuel depots. The ExxonMobil Yarraville fuel terminal, located in Melbourne’s inner west, was targeted on multiple occasions within the week of action, as were the Ampol and Viva Energy fuel terminals located in nearby Spotswood. These actions took place under the banner of “Just Stop It – no more oil, no more gas, no more coal”, inspired by the “Just Stop Oil” campaign being coordinated by environment activists the United Kingdom; a campaign of similar actions targeting oil infrastructure..

 

Mid-way through the Just Stop It campaign, activists took their message to the Australian headquarters of ExxonMobil, located in the Melbourne CBD. This series of images, including the selected image, is taken from this particular action, during which two activists glued themselves to the front entrance of the ExxonMobil building – an action requiring police to remove the glued-on activists, resulting in their arrest.

The image series submitted with the main entry can be viewed below: