The essential question I plan to explore: In a time where our environment is at stake, can exposing the beauty of nature through the power of images bring forth change?
Since the beginning of high school I have been intrigued by the issues of climate change. As a freshman in the environmental club Red Is Green, we watched a video on the early stages of coral bleaching. This video shed light to the consequences of our actions as a society on our earth. It showed the wildlife it would kill and the beauty that would be lost. It made me realize how important it is to save our planet, not only are we saving its beauty, but its wildlife too. My passion for combating climate change has grown exponentially since then as I became the leader of Red Is Green in my Junior Year.
To answer and explore this essential question I would do some traveling within the tristate area to scenic sites where I can hopefully capture the beauty in nature through photography. These excursions would most likely be day trips to avoid any COVID exposures. I would like to capture the beauty of nature to show our community what we collectively need to save as climate change becomes more and more of a pressing issue each day. My plan is to take beautiful portraits of the nature around us as well as contrasting images of urbanization to show the direction society is headed towards if we continue down the path of many neglecting climate change issues. Hopefully the beauty of nature will overpower the urbanization images and inspire others to get involved in changing our planet for the better.
Photography has been a hobby of mine for a couple of years as I took multiple courses at LREI and attended a photography program one summer in Oxford, England. Though I feel experienced in photography, I have much to learn with editing and taking the actual photos themselves. I am eager to further learn this new medium of photography. Photography is a skill that requires patience, skill, and most importantly an eye. I believe taking advantage of the time given to us to explore an interest will be useful to grow as a photographer. I believe photography is a powerful tool to expose issues to the world to push for change. Using inspiration from photographers such as Ansel Adams who has an environmental focus will help carve the path for my project and how I want to approach this project.
Yannik, what a terrific idea! Ansel Adams is the first photographer/environmentalist that comes to mind. I wonder what work you can do to study other such people. Are there classes offered to help guide your reading and research? Obviously, learning about predecessors would help shape this project: Where did they go? Is there a history of environmental photographers in New York State, and if so can you join the organization? Do they have classes at your future college? Solomon is doing something very similar except his environmentalism will be conveyed through painting. Maybe you two should chat?