Conservation photography

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Photo of Management sign encouraging wildlife conservation Management sign.JPG
Photo of Management sign encouraging wildlife conservation
Ansel Easton Adams (1902-1984), an American photographer and environmentalist, photo by J. Malcolm Greany Ansel Adams and camera.jpg
Ansel Easton Adams (1902–1984), an American photographer and environmentalist, photo by J. Malcolm Greany

Conservation photography is the active use of the photographic process and its products, within the parameters of photojournalism, to advocate for conservation outcomes.

Contents

Conservation photography combines nature photography with the proactive, issue-oriented approach of documentary photography as an agent for protecting nature and improving the biosphere and natural environment. Conservation Photography furthers environmental conservation, wildlife conservation, habitat conservation or cultural conservation by expanding public awareness of issues and stimulating remedial action.

History

Photo by Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) of Mt. Broderick and Nevada Fall (700 ft.) at Yosemite Valley in 1861 Carleton E. Watkins - Mt. Broderick, Nevada Fall - SFM.95.98 01 d02.jpg
Photo by Carleton E. Watkins (1829–1916) of Mt. Broderick and Nevada Fall (700 ft.) at Yosemite Valley in 1861
Photo by Ansel Adams of Yosemite Half Dome, Apple Orchard, trees with snow on branches in April 1933 Ansel Adams-Half Dome, Apple Orchard, Yosemite.jpg
Photo by Ansel Adams of Yosemite Half Dome, Apple Orchard, trees with snow on branches in April 1933

Photography has developed as a powerful medium to empower conservation. Photography has served this role since the 1860s, although not widely acknowledged as such. [1] A notable example are the powerful images of Carleton Watkins which were successfully used to stimulate the establishment of Yosemite National Park in 1864 and William Henry Jackson and Ansel Adams who advocated for expansion and continued funding of the park.

Renewed emphasis on photography-for-conservation arose at the beginning of the 21st century, primarily in response to the human-caused environmental crisis, recognizing that the global pattern of ecosystem degradation was not sustainable.

The modern field of conservation photography was formalized in October 2005 with the founding of the International League of Conservation Photographers by photographer Cristina Mittermeier, during the 8th World Wilderness Congress in Anchorage, Alaska. Prior to 2005 "conservation photography" was not widely recognized as a discipline.

Definition

Photo of a vendor in Tanzania in 2000 selling to tourists threatened species seashells which have been taken alive from the sea, killing the animal inside. Seashell vendor.jpeg
Photo of a vendor in Tanzania in 2000 selling to tourists threatened species seashells which have been taken alive from the sea, killing the animal inside.

Conservation and photography appear as two distinct fields, but their combined impact can be profound. Simply put, conservation photography is photography that empowers or enables conservation.

According to the photographer, Joel Sartore, "the typical nature photograph shows a butterfly on a pretty flower. The conservation photograph shows the same thing, but with a bulldozer coming at it in the background. This doesn't mean there's no room for beautiful pictures, in fact we need beautiful images just as much as the issues. It does mean that the images exist for a reason; to save the Earth while we still can."

The serious conservation photographer brings to their work a deep empathy for the natural world. Proper use of the resulting images has the power to bring about positive change.

Conservation photographs fall into two broad categories, both of which are equally valuable:

Such photographs have a stronger impact on the audience. One may also proactively seek opportunities to take crafted conservation pictures. Determined effort can result in excellent photo stories that can move people's hearts and minds. [2]

Applications

Photo of Greenpeace protest against Esso /ExxonMobil in 2003 Gp-esso.jpg
Photo of Greenpeace protest against Esso /ExxonMobil in 2003
True-colour satellite image showing flooding in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani Provinces in Central Thailand (right), compared to before the flooding (left) in 2011 2011 flooding in Ayutthaya Province-EO-1 merged.jpg
True-colour satellite image showing flooding in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani Provinces in Central Thailand (right), compared to before the flooding (left) in 2011

In order to create an impact, conservation pictures should be put to work for specific causes. Though not every picture may find an immediate use, a carefully catalogued archive of conservation pictures can help increase impact of conservation related news stories, provide material for public awareness campaigns, including internet activism and sometimes serve as Investigative journalism evidence in court proceedings. Images of habitat destruction, especially in protected areas, can be important as legal evidence against the activity.

Specialty fields

Several specialty fields benefit from their use of conservation photography, these include:

Subjects

Some subjects of conservation photography include:

Photo of Illegal logging in Thailand was taken from the roadside in Chiang Mai Province in 2011 Illegallogginginchiangmai.jpg
Photo of Illegal logging in Thailand was taken from the roadside in Chiang Mai Province in 2011
Photo of roadkilled kangaroo in Australia Roadkill kangaroo.jpg
Photo of roadkilled kangaroo in Australia

Organizations

There are many environmental organizations that effectively use conservation photography to help advocate their goals. Just a few are:

Related Research Articles

The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the future. Conservationists are concerned with leaving the environment in a better state than the condition they found it in. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more effective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation in Australia</span>

Conservation in Australia is an issue of state and federal policy. Australia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, with a large portion of species endemic to Australia. Preserving this wealth of biodiversity is important for future generations. 25% of Australia is managed for conservation.

This is an index of conservation topics. It is an alphabetical index of articles relating to conservation biology and conservation of the natural environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species, controls the release of non-native species, enhances the protection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest and builds upon the rights of way rules in the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The Act is split into 4 parts covering 74 sections; it also includes 17 schedules.

Galen Avery Rowell was a wilderness photographer, adventure photojournalist and mountaineer. Born in Oakland, California, he became a full-time photographer in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habitat conservation</span> Management practice for protecting types of environments

Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amami rabbit</span> Species of mammal

The Amami rabbit, or Amami no-kuro-usagi, also known as the Ryukyu rabbit is a dark-furred rabbit which is only found in Amami Ōshima and Toku-no-Shima, two small islands between southern Kyūshū and Okinawa in Japan. Often called a living fossil, the Amami rabbit is a living remnant of ancient rabbits that once lived on the Asian mainland, where they died out, remaining only on the two small Japanese islands where they live today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Wildlife Refuge</span> United States protected area designation

National Wildlife RefugeSystem (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the Department of the Interior. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge as the first wildlife refuge in 1903, the system has grown to over 568 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts encompassing about 856,000,000 acres (3,464,109 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game reserve</span> Area of land set aside for wild animals

A game reserve is a large area of land where wild animals are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; however, the focus of a game reserve is specifically the animals (fauna), whereas a nature reserve is also, if not equally, concerned with all aspects of native biota of the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife conservation</span> Practice of protecting wild plant and animal species and their habitats

Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habitat destruction, degradation, fragmentation, overexploitation, poaching, pollution, climate change, and the illegal wildlife trade. The IUCN estimates that 42,100 species of the ones assessed are at risk for extinction. Expanding to all existing species, a 2019 UN report on biodiversity put this estimate even higher at a million species. It is also being acknowledged that an increasing number of ecosystems on Earth containing endangered species are disappearing. To address these issues, there have been both national and international governmental efforts to preserve Earth's wildlife. Prominent conservation agreements include the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There are also numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) dedicated to conservation such as the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, the Wild Animal Health Fund and Conservation International.

ARKive was a global initiative with the mission of "promoting the conservation of the world's threatened species, through the power of wildlife imagery", which it did by locating and gathering films, photographs and audio recordings of the world's species into a centralised digital archive. Its priority was the completion of audio-visual profiles for the c. 17,000 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature photography</span> Photography genre

Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis on the aesthetic value of the photo than other photography genres, such as photojournalism and documentary photography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trail ethics</span>

Trail ethics define appropriate ranges of behavior for hikers on a public trail. It is similar to both environmental ethics and human rights in that it deals with the shared interaction of humans and nature. There are multiple agencies and groups that support and encourage ethical behavior on trails.

The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to wildlife conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Bhutan</span>

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked nation nestled in the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalaya. To its north lies the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and to the west, south and east lies the Indian states of Sikkim, Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landscape photography</span> Photography genre

Landscape photography shows the spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on human-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Landscape photography is done for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most common is to recall a personal observation or experience while in the outdoors, especially when traveling. Others pursue it particularly as an outdoor lifestyle, to be involved with nature and the elements, some as an escape from the artificial world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IUCN protected area categories</span> International classification for protected areas

IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest conservation in the United States</span>

Forest conservation is the practice of planning and maintaining forested areas for the benefit and sustainability of future generations. Forest conservation involves the upkeep of the natural resources within a forest that are beneficial for both humans and the ecosystem. Forests provide wildlife with a suitable habitat for living which allows the ecosystem to be biodiverse and benefit other natural processes. Forests also filter groundwater and prevent runoff keeping water safe for human consumption. There are many types of forests to consider and various techniques to preserve them. Of the types of forests in the United States, they each face specific threats. But, there are various techniques to implement that will protect and preserve them.

Thomas D. Mangelsen is an American nature and wildlife photographer and conservationist. He is most famous for his photography of wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, as he has lived inside the zone in Jackson, Wyoming, for over 40 years. In 2015, he and nature author Todd Wilkinson created a book, The Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek, featuring a grizzly bear known as Grizzly 399, named so due to her research number. He has been active in the movement to keep the Yellowstone area grizzly bears on the Endangered Species List. Mangelsen is also known for trekking to all seven continents to photograph a diverse assortment of nature and wildlife. A photograph he took in 1988 titled, "Catch of the Day" has been labeled "the most famous wildlife photograph in the world". In May 2018, he was profiled on CBS 60 Minutes. He has received dozens of accolades throughout the decades.

References

  1. Carleton Ward Jr. (2008), "Conservation Photography", Master of Science Thesis, University of Florida, retrieved 2012-02-27
  2. 1 2 Shekar Dattatri and Ramki Sreenivasan (2011-12-13), "Beyond The Pretty Picture — Giving Back To Nature Through Photography", RESOURCES » TOOLKIT, Conservation India, retrieved 2012-02-27
  3. "About ARKive". ARKive. Archived from the original on 2011-07-01. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  4. Various authors, India, pp. 76; Lonely Planet Publications, 2005