Photography and Conservation
Producing Landscape Pictures with an Earth-Conscious Purpose
Apr 4, 2008
Landscape photographs can convey powerful conservation messages. But it is not only the leading, world-class professionals who can help save the world. Images of less remote and exotic places can swing the argument in local conservation battles. And taking pictures with an environmental purpose can make you a better photographer as well as an influential one.
Conservation Photography
There are broadly two approaches to building a local, conservationist portfolio. Perhaps the simplest and most obvious is to present pristine, rugged natural habitats as attractively as we can to build an appreciation for the wilderness.
We all do this on a regular basis, consciously or not. When we capture, tweak and present a landscape picture we produce a work of art. In some way it represents a fragment of the world, or our interpretation of it, with a particular composition and lighting that we find satisfying. But beyond that, we hope and believe it will inspire other people to appreciate natural, outdoor beauty.
Threats to the Landscape
A more direct approach is to illustrate the risks and threats to the landscape, past and present. A well-composed shot of garbage on an otherwise pristine beach, an image rapidly becoming easier to find than to avoid, might tweak a few consciences. But there are other ways that in the end might send a stronger message.
A simple coastal or mountain scene may appear innocent and peaceful enough, except that it is about to become the centre of a holiday resort or there is a proposal for a funicular railway.
Historical Description and Modern Image
Juxtaposing a modern image with a well-known historical account of an area can be effective in showing what is already lost, and the world of fiction provides a wealth of material. Daphne du Maurier wrote graphic descriptions of the remote and wild Bodmin Moor, while a four-lane highway now sweeps across it and passes within a hundred meters of Jamaica Inn, itself at risk from a steady process of Disneyfication.
A Positive Conservation Message
Our shots of the human impact on the landscape need not always be negative. Some of the best and most evocative pictures show how mature structures can blend into the landscape. Even a well-planned and designed modern development need not be so bad, and might even enhance the landscape. Some people find attractive the elegant towers of a wind farm and mesmerizing, graceful rotation of the turbines.
International League of Conservation Photographers
The world-class professionals in the International League of Conservation Photographers and the Wild Wonders of Europe still represent the pinnacle of conservation photography and set standards that we can all aspire to.
But even they had to start somewhere. For the rest of us photographs can be powerfully persuasive, and making them so will add a new dimension to our work. A conservationist approach can conjure up ideas for subjects that might not otherwise occur to us. It can help us find an angle or a context for each shot. And it can make us more passionate about our craft.
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