far-out landscapes, ship recycling, rugs : NPR

Key Points:

• Photographer George Steinmetz won the 2026 Siena Drone Photo Awards overall prize for his aerial image of a liquified natural gas tanker being dismantled on Bangladesh's mudflats, highlighting the country's shipbreaking industry and its environmental and labor challenges.
• The Siena Drone Photo Awards showcase striking aerial views from the Global South, including Dilek Yurdakul's photo of vast carpet fields in southern Turkey illustrating traditional rug-making and the invisibility of labor.
• Other notable drone images include Colas Decloitre's capture of Indonesia's Tumpak Sewu waterfall with an erupting volcano backdrop, Isabella Tabacchi's volcanic cone in Argentina's Puna region, and Holly Kirkland's flamingos over Tanzania's Lake Natron.
• Shahedul Islam Sadik documented the crowded Rohingya refugee camps near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, portraying the humanitarian crisis's impact on both people and landscape, while Steinmetz also captured the vibrant Eid ferry traffic in Dhaka, reflecting cultural and social dynamics.
• These aerial photographs reveal hidden human and environmental stories, made possible by drone technology that allows photographers to explore perspectives and narratives inaccessible from the ground.