Across the Island

A woman and a young boy each carry a solar panel on their head in the middle of a remote island.

A mother and son carry a solar panel across India's Ghoramara Island, preparing to install it at their home in this image from the 2026 Giga Photo Award competition. The remote island in the Sundarbans—an enormous mangrove forest that protects the India-Bangladesh coast—lacks a conventional electricity grid. After Super Cyclone Yaas hit the region in 2021, flooding and high tides cut off power to the island. Since then, solar panels have become common in order for families to keep phones charged and lights on during emergencies.

Supratim Bhattacharjee