LONDON.- The Commission, a series of over 30 photographs, documents Chris Jordan’s field trip to Northern Kenya where Pictet & Cie is contributing to the establishment of the Nakuprat-Gotu Conservancy, a new community-led initiative, supported by the Tusk Trust and overseen by the Northern Rangelands Trust.

Chris Jordan’s photographs draw attention to the issues that face the politically and socially marginalised communities in the region: climate change; drought; conflict caused by competition for scarce resources – livestock, pasture and water; and an increase in pressure from expanding human populations – exemplifying the theme of this third cycle of the Prix Pictet: “Growth”. Violence between competing communities in the area, known as “bandit country”, has had a disastrous impact on tourism. The area also suffers from chronic game-meat and elephant poaching and a visceral group of images documenting the horror of elephant poaching lies at the heart of the series.

Ushirikiano also illustrates a more hopeful future, with photographs portraying new security provision, water tanks, biodiversity conservation, schools, women’s enterprise projects and the different tribes, Borana, Turkana and Samburu, encouraged to live and work alongside each other in a spirit of collaboration. The Nakuprat-Gotu Conservancy aims to improve human, habitat and wildlife security, and establish income-generating activities including tourism ventures and livestock marketing, and so create a sustainable model for future economic development.

The Prix Pictet, launched in 2008 by the Geneva-based private bank Pictet & Cie, has rapidly established an international reputation. It has a unique mandate: to use the power of world-class photography to raise awareness with a global audience of the social and environmental challenges of the new millennium.