Oscar Wilde once said, “No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.” But the reverse holds too, as the Prix Pictet — the first-ever major prize for sustainability-themed photography — makes clear. For its inaugural year, the global competition focuses on water, and has shortlisted a handful of international photographers’ breathtaking bodies of work (all of which will be shown in Paris' Palais de Tokyo this fall). From clear-eyed shots of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath to eerily beautiful melting icebergs, the powerful images hint that, clichéd or not, pictures really are worth a thousand words.

For more information, go to prixpictet.com.