Prix Pictet 2012 shortlist – in pictures

Robert Adams from the series Turning Back: Near Clatskanie, Columbia County, Oregon (1999) Photograph: Robert Adams, Prix Pictet Ltd

Robert Adams from the series Turning Back: Clatsop County, Oregon (1999) Photograph: Robert Adams, Prix Pictet Ltd

Joel Sternfeld from the series 'When It Changed: Photographs from the 11th United Nations Conference on Climate Change' : Stéphane Dion, Minister of the Environment, Canada (Montreal, 28 November to 9 December 2005) Photograph: Joel Sternfeld, Prix Pictet Ltd

Joel Sternfeld from the series 'When It Changed: Photographs from the 11th United Nations Conference on Climate Change': Yoshiaki Nishimura, Senior Staff, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Japan (Montreal, 28 November to 9 December 2005) Photograph: Joel Sternfeld, Prix Pictet Ltd

Daniel Beltrá from series Spill: Oil Spill #1, a plume of smoke rises from a burn of collected oil. A total of 411 controlled burns were used to try to rid the Gulf of the most visible surface oil (17 June, 2010, Gulf of Mexico, US) Photograph: Daniel Beltrá/Prix Pictet Ltd

Daniel Beltrá from series Spill : Oil Spill#4, oil mixed with dispersant rises up to the surface near one of the relief wells (18 May, 2010, Gulf of Mexico, US) Photograph: Daniel Beltrá/Prix Pictet Ltd

Rena Effendi from the series Still Life in the Zone: Gas Masks Scattered on the Floor of a School Lobby in the Abandoned City of Prypiats. As a Result of the Nuclear Accident and the Subsequent Radioactive Fallout the Entire Population of Prypiats Had Been Evacuated and Never Returned Home (Chernobyl, Ukraine, December 2010) Photograph: Rena Effendi, Prix Pictet Ltd

Rena Effendi, from the series Still Life in the Zone: Birch Tree Growing on the Second Floor of a GYM in the Abandoned City of Prypiats. As a Result of the Nuclear Accident and the Subsequent Radioactive Fallout the Entire Population of Prypiats Had Been Evacuated and Never Returned Home (Chernobyl,Ukraine, December 2010) Photograph: Rena Effendi, Prix Pictet Ltd

Edmund Clark from the series 'Guantanamo: If the light goes out': Camp One, exercise cage (Detention Facility, 2009) Photograph: Edmund Clark/Prix Pictet Ltd

Edmund Clark from the series 'Guantanamo: If the Light Goes Out': Camp Six, Emergency Response Force Equipment (2009) Photograph: Edmund Clark, Prix Pictet Ltd

Carl De Keyzer from the series Moments Before the Flood: England (2009) Photograph: Carl De Keyzer, Prix Pictet Ltd

Carl De Keyzer from the series Moments Before the Flood: Isola di Capo Rizzuto (Italy, 2010) Photograph: Carl De Keyzer/Prix Pictet Ltd

Mohamed Bourouissa from series Périphérique: La Republique (Paris, 2006) Photograph: Mohamed Bourouissa/Prix Pictet Ltd

Mohamed Bourouissa from series Périphérique: Le Reflet (Paris, 2007-2008) Photograph: Mohamed Bourouissa/Prix Pictet Ltd

An-My Lê from the series 29 Palms: Embassy Medevac (Twentynine Palms, California, US, 2003-04) Photograph: An-My Lê, Prix Pictet Ltd

An-My Lê from the series 29 Palms: Debriefing (Twentynine Palms, California, US, 2003-04) Photograph: An-My Lê, Prix Pictet Ltd

Luc Delahaye: Les Pillards (Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 17 January 2010) Photograph: Luc Delahaye, Prix Pictet Ltd

Luc Delahaye: 132nd Ordinary Meeting of the Conference (OPEC headquarters, Vienna, 15 September 2004) Photograph: Luc Delahaye, Prix Pictet Ltd

Jacqueline Hassink from the series Arab Domains: Maha Khaled Al-Ghunaim Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Global Investment House (Kuwait City, Kuwait, 22 May 2005) Photograph: Jacqueline Hassink, Prix Pictet Ltd

Jacqueline Hassink, from the series Arab Domains: Elham M Zeadat General Manager and Owner of BLOOM Dead Sea Gift Enterprise (Amman, Jordan, 11 February 2005) Photograph: Jacqueline Hassink, Prix Pictet Ltd

Guy Tillim from the series Congo Democratic: Presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba enters a stadium in central Kinshasa flanked by his bodyguards during an election rally (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, July 2006) Photograph: Guy Tillim, Prix Pictet Ltd

Guy Tillim from the series Congo Democratic: The statue of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley which overlooked Kinshasa in colonial times. It rests on a steamboat that belonged to the African International Association, a company publicly charged by Leopold II with a philanthropic and 'civilising' mission that veiled its true purpose of annexing and exploiting natural resources. The statue was removed during the Mobutu period of Africanisation in the 1970s and dumped in a government transport lot in Kinshasa (September 2003) Photograph: Guy Tillim, Prix Pictet Ltd

Philippe Chancel from the series 'Fukushima: The Irresistible Power of Nature': Rikusentakata_GPS_39° 1’ 14’’ N 141° 37’23‘’E-2011- 06-13_03 :48 :35 G.M.T (Tohoku, Japan, 2011) Photograph: Philippe Chancel/Prix Pictet Ltd

Philippe Chancel from the series 'Fukushima: The Irresistible Power of Nature': Higashimaecho_GPS_39°16’23’’N 141°53’36’’E - 2011-06-1 4 _ 07 :59: 36 G.M.T (Tohoku, Japan,2011) Photograph: Philippe Chancel/Prix Pictet Ltd