Camels search for untainted shrubs and water in the burning oil fields of southern Kuwait. As his army retreated from Kuwait, at the end of the First Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale. Steve McCurry: 'Photographing the ecological disaster in the aftermath of the Gulf War was one of the most amazing experiences of my professional life. All of Kuwait seemed like an end-of-the-world scenario from a Hollywood production. Over 600 oil wells were on fire, turning daytime into night. The smoke was so thick that sometimes you couldn’t breathe. Animals were left to wander among the burning oil fields, looking for food and water. I followed this family of camels for about an hour in my jeep, getting out from time to time to make photographs. I guess my motivation was to show the world this tragic, needless catastrophe.' (World Press Photo retrospective Children's Jury exhibition, 2003)

Environmentalists Rick Thorpe and Michael Bailey of Earthtrust examine the oil encrusted soil of an infernal landscape, in the Ahmadi Oil Fields, Kuwait. As his army retreated from Kuwait, at the end of the First Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale.

A scene of death where casualties of the war machine were left to decay on the Ahmadi Oil Fields in Kuwait, after the First Gulf War.

The road from Basra to Kuwait City at the end of the First Gulf War. The remains of a convoy of commandeered vehicles, bombed out of existence by an allied aircraft.

A Kuwaiti who was tortured to death by Iraqi soldiers, in the desert surrounding Kuwait City.

A stripped car claimed by a shepherd boy at Al Ahmadi, Kuwait, after the First Gulf War.

Bird in the Ahmadi Oil Fields, Kuwait. As his army retreated from Kuwait, at the end of the First Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale.

Fire fighters from the Kuwait Oil Company spray foam to smother a two-week-old blaze at a sabatoged oil-tank farm, Ahmadi Oil Fields, Kuwait. As his army retreated from Kuwait, at the end of the First Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale.

Dead horse in the burning oil fields of southern Kuwait. As his army retreated from Kuwait, at the end of the First Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale.

Victim of the First Gulf War, surrounding Kuwait City.

Tire tracks in the burning Al Ahmadi oil fields, Kuwait. As his army retreated from Kuwait, at the end of the First Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale.

Nature - 2nd prize