The movement of nature conservation through photography has been around since the early 1860’s. There is now a specific category for nature conservation photography. It’s the active use of photojournalistic and documentary style photography to promote the conservation of nature. Conservation photography expands the world of environmental conservation not only for the environment but for animal habitats and wildlife. It raises awareness for every aspect of nature.
There are few photographers that I’m going to talk about that helped bring nature conservation to light and some that have helped keep it in the public’s eye. I have three historical photographers that were some of the first photographers to help bring awareness to the conservation of nature.
Carleton Watkins was the photographer who saved Yosemite. His photographs encouraged the government to create one of the first national parks. In 1861, Watkins packed up his photography gear, strapped it on mules and rode the long and untraveled trail into California’s Yosemite Valley. “Three years later, the 30 images that he captured” of the valley inspired Abraham Lincoln, who was on the opposite side of the country and engaged in the civil war, to “to sign the legislation needed to secure perpetuity the wilderness ‘for public use, resort, and recreation.’” During this time mining and logging companies were looking at the valley and the ‘Yosemite grant’ that Lincoln signed started the conservation movement. Watkins role in the early days of environmentalism is rarely acknowledged in history books.
William Henry Jackson is another one of the photographers who helped preserve a national park. Jackson is famous for his landscape photographs that made the American West popular. He was the official photographer for the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories from 1870 to 1878. They were so impressed by his photographs that they decided to vote to establish Yellowstone National Park in 1872.
The last historical photographer that I would like to mention is Ansel Adams, another photographer whose photographs helped conserve nature. Adam’s goal was to photograph what he was feeling, not just what he was seeing. His ability to capture the emotion in his photographs allowed them to become “an important part of the American conservation movement, providing a constant reminder of the landscapes that need to be protected.” Typically, artists in this movement were using paintings to spread the beauty of nature and these artists used color to express that beauty. Adams changed this by capturing the beauty of nature with his lens in a minimalistic and monochromatic style that allowed for sharp contrast and deep focus.
I have two contemporary photographers that continue to help in spreading awareness for nature conservation. These photographers are active nature conservationists. They use their photographs to inspire the public and to ensure that they don’t forget about the issues that threaten our environment.
The second and last contemporary photographer that I would like to talk about is Paul Nicklen. He co-founded a non-profit group called SeaLegacy that raises awareness for ocean conservation. They inspire people through visual storytelling to stand up for places threatened by our changing climate. As a National Geographic photographer, Nicklen has covered over 16 stories about conservation. Nicklen said, “I call myself an interpreter and a translator. I translate what the scientists are telling me. If we lose ice, we stand to lose an entire ecosystem. I hope we can realize through my photography how interconnected many species are to ice.”
Joel Sartore has become very popular for his photo project called, The Photo Ark. The Photo Ark started in 2005 when Joel Sartore’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He chose to put his career with National Geographic on hold to stay home with his wife and take care of their three children. His year at home “gave [him] a new perspective on the shortness and fragility of life.” When his wife was in recovery he began to ask himself this question: How can I get people to care that we could lose half of all species by the turn of the next century?
He decided the best way to do this was to make clean and simple portraits. He wanted to give everyone the opportunity to “look animals directly in the eye and see that there’s beauty, grace, and intelligence” in these animals that we share the earth with. Plain backgrounds of black or white allow Sartore to photograph every animal to look equal size – to make a small animal such as a frog look just as big as a tiger. So far, Sartore has portraits of more than 8,000 species and he plans to keep going until he gets them all. Sartore said, “the future of life on Earth is something that deserves our full attention.”
Early conservation photographers mostly focused on landscapes and the environment. In Watkin’s photograph, Three Brothers, he “captures the details and awe-inspiring scale and sublime potency of Yosemite” which allowed him to compete with painters.
Three Brothers
Carleton Watkins, Albumen Silver Print, circa 1865-66
In Jackson’s photograph, Old Faithful in Eruption, he captures just how high the water shoots in the air by placing a person in the photograph next to the water stream. This allows people to feel like they are at Old Faithful themselves.
Old Faithful in Eruption
William Henry Jackson, Albumen Silver Print, circa 1871-72
In Adam’s photograph, Boaring River, King’s Region, he captures those same awe-inspiring details as Watkins. These details are used to create an interaction with the viewer. They photographed with the not only themselves but the view in mind as well. Watkins coined the phrase, “God was in the details,” and Adams helped bring that idea to its peak. Color film was available during Adams time but he chose to shoot in black and white to preserve the details in the landscape.
Boaring River, Kings Region
Ansel Adams, Gelatin Silver Print, 11936
In Nicklen’s photograph, Polar Bears: Polar bears are great swimmers, yet without sea ice they cannot jump from floe to floe to hunt, he uses color and uses a cropped frame to allow the viewer to be closer to the polar bear. He catches the polar bear in its natural environment and in motion trying to jump floe to floe. The cropped frame also allows the viewer to see just how much ice is melting – the ice that polar bears need to survive.
Polar Bear
Paul Nicklen, Digital, 2016-17
In Sartore’s photograph, Rajah, an endangered, male white Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) at Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, uses a cropped frame just like Nicklen but he takes the animals out of their environments. He uses a black background to allow all the focus to be on the white tiger. This brings the viewer closer to the tiger feeling like they are there with it. The closer the subject is the more likely the viewer is going to care about them.
Rajah
Joel Sartore, Digital, 2018
Although, each photographer has different styles, they are all still similar. Each of them wants to bring the viewer of their photographs closer to their subjects. They want you to either feel like you are in standing by Old Faithful, in Yosemite, watching the polar bears or the endangered white tiger.
Sources:
www.britannica.com/biography/William-Henry-Jackson https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/7-conservation-photographers-saving-the-planet-through-amazing-pictures.html
www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/how-conservation-photography-is-a-political-act.html
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/dec/30/carleton-watkins-photographs-saved-yosemite
https://paulnicklen.com/ www.nps.gov/articles/ansel-adams-conservation.htm.
www.joelsartore.com/photo-ark/about-the-photo-ark/
Hirsch, Robert. Seizing the Light: A Social & Aesthetic History of Photography. Third ed., Routledge, 2017