Energy SELF Portraits Photographs & Stories Contest 2020-2021

12 Feb 2021 - The collection of  Energy SELF Portraits focusses on different SDG-7 dimensions such as energy access, its costs and options, its quality, its environmental implications as well as how energy efficiency and renewable energy may offer solutions to the SDG7 challenge. As energy is an enabler of many of the other SDGs, special emphasis is given to stories that highlight the particular role of energy in reducing poverty and hunger, increasing health, education and gender equality as well as tackling climate change.

The second round of the contest (1 February – 21 March) will give special visibility to topic of energy poverty, a problem that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak as the global recession triggered by lockdown has deepened pre-existing inequalities and has emphasised the importance of energy and energy services in leading a safe, healthy and decent life.

“Energy poverty, commonly understood as the inability to secure needed levels of energy services in the home, means living in a home impossible to cool or to heat, because of excessive energy bills, low incomes and poor energy efficiency”

We want to help document the challenges of energy poverty in order to assure that better conditions can be met in the future. Issues of energy poverty include but are not limited to underperforming insulation and inefficient appliances, the lack of guaranteed access to energy and other essential utilities and rising energy consumption.

The contest will accept Energy SELF Portraits which conform to the following photo formats:

1. Traditional family Self-Portrait: a photograph taken in or at the family home with one or more family members and a collection of energy devices.
2. Technology Self-Portrait: a photograph of one or more people standing with a type of technological device or process which has a connection to the energy challenge.
3. Community Self-Portrait: a photograph with one or more people and their collective connection with energy, for example, students at a school, doctors at a hospital, etc.

The Jury is composed of:

• Swetha RaviKumar Bhagwat, Head of FSR Global
• Sherry Kennedy, Director of Communications for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)
• Luca Locatelli, environmental photographer and film-maker
• Kip Patrick, Senior Director of Advocacy and Communications at the Clean Cooking Alliance
• Kristina Skierka, CEO of Power for All

Together they will select the winners of 15 prizes worth $100 USD and one overall winner for the contest who will receive a prize of $500 USD.

All winning portraits and stories will be made available to view on www.energyportraits.org and the social media of WAME and partners of the contest.

The CONTEST is open to EVERYONE! We invite all contest participants to publish their portraits on Instagram, using the hashtag #energyselfportraits

The contest Energy SELF Portraits is a project by WAME  www.wame2030.org. Thanks to the support of Fondazione AEM, Florence School of Regulation and Fondazione Cariplo, WAME has been documenting the energy access challenge through images since 2017 with photographs taken by the photographer Marco Garofalo and captions by Matteo Leonardi.

Each photograph and associated caption depict the story of the portrait and provides basic information on access to electricity in that specific context. Particular attention is given to the convenience, reliability and sustainability of the energy service. Energy Portraits documents the challenge of Sustainable Development Goal 7: "Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all".