The theme of this year’s Chester Fields Teen Photography Program was Global Warning, inviting artists to visualise the forces of nature—and the forces that threaten it. What emerges in the 2020 finalists’ works is a sense of creativity, courage, and clarity as they capture dynamic circumstances and far-reaching consequences affecting our Planet Earth. Through their images, these 38 artists anticipate a precarious future, celebrate the fight against climate change, and hold the decision-makers of today and yesterday to account. This year’s artists have done much more than meet the Chester Fields challenge: they have posed a challenge of their own, one that everyone must urgently meet, especially as today’s new “global warning” forces all of humanity to embrace uncertain futures and profound change.
A special thanks to our jurors: artist Marian Penner Bancroft, Capture Photography Festival Assistant Curator Cheyenne Rain Legrande, and photographer and National Geographic Explorer Amy Romer.