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1st place Conservation Photographer of the Year

Matt Sharp Maldives

4°18'55.8"N 73°35'03.4"E

A hermit crab crawls atop a pile of plastic in a shell made from manmade waste. Photographed on the small island of Thanburudhoo in the Maldives, photographer Matt Sharp hopes his image communicates the direct impact plastic pollution is having on the natural world: “We were so shocked at the plastic waste littering the island. And then I saw this hermit crab crawling through the knee-deep plastic. It demonstrates the scale of the problem.” 

BEHIND THE LENS

Matt Sharp

Matt Sharp Jersey

ABOUT THE IMAGE

  • Camera: Fujifilm XT2
  • Site accessed via liveaboard
  • Photograph taken in early afternoon
  • Overcast conditions, light breeze

Matt is a Jersey-based photographer with a degree in marine biology and a passion for the ocean. He has lived and worked on sailing boats all over the world and spends his winters teaching his other passion, skiing, in France (though never without his camera).