On May 4, along the shores of Lake Lucerne, in Seelisberg, Switzerland, Aldo Steinfeld went for a ride on his Harley-Davidson. The day was warm and sunny, with stunning panoramic views of the Swiss mountains, and Steinfeld was making the first motorcycle ride powered by fuel created by the sun. I was there to document this trip on assignment for NatGeo US: the fuel was manufactured at the DAWN plant in Julich, Germany, which is owned and operated by Synhelion, a company that researches ways to replace petroleum products with sustainable, synthetic fuels and whose technology Steinfeld has helped pioneer.

Read the full article here.

I am proud to announce that one of my images has been selected for the National Geographic Picture of the Year issue, a format that summarizes the finest work of hundreds of NatGeo photographers on the field.

This year’s feature is about my series about the DAWN project, in Germany. The image represents a synthetic fluid, made using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, that has the potential to replace fossil fuels. It could be used to power trucks, ships, and planes without retrofitting. In June, Swiss company Synhelion opened the world’s first industrial-scale plant to produce the energy alternative.

Check it out at this link.

To read the full story, please visit NG’s website here.

Critical Minerals exhibition review on Vogue Italia.

The installation, promoted by the Deloitte Foundation and hosted by MUDEC Milano, has been recognized among the current best photography exhibitions in the country.

Check the full article here.

“L’energia pulita è un sogno e una necessità, ma dietro la transizione verde ci sono anche costi sociali e danni ambientali che non conosciamo e che nessuno ci mostra. Il fotografo Davide Monteleone per due anni ha viaggiato nel mondo per raccontare le storie delle materie prime che stanno scrivendo il nostro futuro".”

Grazie a Mario Calabresi. che ha dedicato la sua newsletter settimanale a Critical Minerals, parlando del progetto attraverso un’analisi articolata e attenta.

Clicca qui per saperne di più.

As the 2024 winner project, Critical Minerals - Geography of Energy will be featured in LFI Special Edition magazine, available for purchase at this link.

Preface – Karin Rehn-Kaufmann
Winner 2024
Davide Monteleone: Critical Minerals – Geography of Energy
Newcomer 2024
Maria Guţu: Homeland
Shortlist:
Forough Alaei: Underneath the Calm Streets of Iran
Anush Babajanyan: Nagorno-Karabakh War and Exodus
Emily Garthwaite: Tears of the Tigris
Ksenia Ivanova: Between the Trees of the South Caucasus
Lucas Lenci: Inattention Era
Adriana Loureiro Fernández: Paradise Lost
Sara Meneses Cuapio: Raízhambre
Tong Niu: Express Delivery
Ingmar Björn Nolting: An Anthology of Changing Climate
Etinosa Yvonne: It’s All in my Head

Critical Minerals – Geography of Energy  won the 44th Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA)!

 How can we build a sustainable future without making the same mistakes? For this project, I wanted to explore the shift to renewable energy and its challenges.

Through a mix of visuals and data, Critical Minerals explores the complex geopolitical, social, and environmental impacts of intensive mining. I focused on three key minerals—copper, lithium, and cobalt—and their extraction in Chile, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia due to their critical role in the green energy transition.

 Huge thanks to Benedetta Donato for nominating my project, and to the jury for recognizing how important and urgent this topic is. Shoutout to my awesome teammates Manuel Montesano and Samantha Azzani, and the incredible local storytellers Cristobal Olivares, Guerchom Ndebo, and Muhammad Fadli.

Also, a massive thank you to all the amazing institutions that supported me from day one, The National Geographic Society, The Climate Pledge.

This project is truly a collaborative effort, and I’m beyond proud that it’s been recognized as a key part of the conversation around energy transition.