Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, glacier melt, the disappearance of large predators, coral reefs, birds, and bees, droughts, waste, food shortages, contaminated water, marine pollution, population migrations, deforestation, depletion of natural resources… The list of disruptions in nature grows longer year by year. The effects of climate change and human activity multiply across the planet, spreading like a shockwave, an increasingly powerful surge that is difficult—even impossible—to halt unless our awareness and way of living in modern society are profoundly transformed.
Since the start of the last century, whistleblowers have spoken out. Writers, botanists, zoologists, geographers, schoolchildren, adventurers, sailors, mountaineers, engineers, documentarians, photographers—all those who traverse the world, infiltrating cities as well as silent landscapes, the “blanks on the map,” as travel writer Nicolas Bouvier described them—have tirelessly borne witness, raised awareness, issued warnings, and revealed what is happening both near us and far beyond our horizons. Images, whether filmed or photographed, capture a wealth of information, and their direct observation leaves no room for doubt. The scars, wounds, and imbalances of the world are laid bare.
Through their images, where nature is disfigured, where human activity shamelessly degrades the environment, these photographers play a crucial role in raising ecological awareness, fostering understanding of the state of the planet, and urging action to preserve the environment. Each perspective offers a different lens on the vast subject of ecology: some study the initial disruptions; others highlight the consequences or attempt to understand various events on land, at sea, in the air, or in the atmosphere. The most optimistic among them focus on the good practices born out of chaos or remind us of nature’s extraordinary poetic dimension to encourage its care. These dedicated image hunters offer a diverse and activist vision with a single leitmotif: to observe, so we can no longer say we didn’t know.
Raising Awareness of Environmental Issues
By capturing the public’s attention and evoking emotion, an image can convey a powerful idea in just a few seconds. Photos of areas devastated by wildfires or beaches littered with plastic immediately alert the public to the problem of environmental degradation.
Daniel Beltrá began as a press correspondent and, alongside his photojournalism career, collaborated with Greenpeace, eventually becoming one of their official photographers. “I’ve always been fascinated by nature, and the environment is one of my main concerns,” he says. This Spanish photographer has also focused on the deforestation of the Amazon. His images reveal the scale of destruction caused by logging, agriculture, and mining.
For over 30 years, Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has documented human intrusion into ecological balance. His work highlights industrialization’s impact on nature: landscapes transformed by mineral extraction, industrial farming, and ship graveyards. His series “Disastrous Beauties” features hauntingly aesthetic aerial shots, where disfigured landscapes become poetic images. This cynical ode grips the viewer, revealing the tragic, irreversible damage caused by these industries.
“My work documents the large-scale systems humans use to control and modify our environment. But I realized ground-level views couldn’t capture the scale of these activities. I had to take to the air to see and photograph them more broadly“
Biodiversity and Endangered Species
It’s impossible to discuss ecology without mentioning the work of naturalist photographers who continually seek to document endangered flora and fauna. These strikingly beautiful images remind us of the importance of protecting natural habitats and biodiversity.
Paul Nicklen, a Canadian biologist and photographer raised in an Inuit community, works today with National Geographic magazine. A staunch advocate for marine life, he specializes in polar regions and has won numerous awards for his exceptional images of melting ice landscapes. “A poignant call to action,” he concludes.
Frans Lanting, a Dutch photographer, has won numerous awards for his work on wildlife, fragile ecosystems, and species threatened by human activity, regularly publishing in Life magazine and National Geographic.
James Balog, an American photographer, has spent 40 years documenting climate change’s devastating impact on the Earth and its inhabitants, notably for its commitment to addressing glacier melting and rising sea levels.
In 2017, he launched the Extreme Ice Survey, in collaboration with scientists, to explore climate change’s effects on glaciers. His photographs and videos result in spectacular images.
Sean Gallagher, a British photographer and filmmaker based in China, has focused on environmental and social issues in Asia: typhoons in China, forest fires in Cambodia, the strained relationship between the population of Sri Lanka and the habitat of elephants due to the establishment of tea plantations, and the desertification of certain regions in China caused by drought.
Mattias Klum, a renowned Swedish naturalist photographer-filmmaker, has traveled the world to raise awareness of climate change’s impacts. His work is regularly exhibited, published in National Geographic, and collected in books.
The Consequences of Pollution
Open-air dumps, marine animals trapped in nets, drifting plastic debris… these are powerful examples of the impact of human consumption on the planet. Such scenes of ocean, river, or air pollution, often overlooked by traditional media, are meant to raise awareness about the urgent need to reduce waste production.
Once again, some photographers have chosen to address this issue in unique ways to highlight environmental problems, but the underlying message remains the same—a stark alarm call, shamefully reflecting our consumption habits.
We all remember the striking image of a baby albatross washed up on the beach, its stomach filled with tiny plastic objects. This shocking photograph has profoundly changed our perception of the ecological emergency. Chris Jordan’s work, as seen here, is raw and uncompromising. He focuses primarily on illustrating the scale of plastic pollution and its direct impact on marine life.
Benjamin Von Wong is more of an artist than a photographer. He moves away from the distressing imagery of plastic pollution engulfing land and oceans to create narratives straight out of a fantasy universe. This activist designs images meant to be unforgettable. He stages and crafts his shots like a true fashion photographer working in a studio. Mermaids, fantastical characters, Mad Max-style families, and imaginary creatures—all his figures are dressed in plastic waste or set against apocalyptic landscapes. His interpretation of the ecological crisis is both unique and lighthearted.
Gideon Mendel, a South African artist, focuses on one of the major consequences of climate change: flooding. He shifts away from capturing polar regions—too distant from our daily concerns and insufficiently impactful to provoke real awareness—and turns his lens to individuals directly affected. His Drowning World series features submerged portraits of people around the globe who have faced devastating floods, capturing not only the harshness of the disaster but also the deeply personal violation of their homes, the ultimate sanctuary. This work has earned him numerous accolades, including the Jackson Pollock Prize for Creativity in 2016.
Climate Change
As Gideon Mendel previously explained, images of emaciated polar bears on melting icebergs don’t necessarily awaken people to the urgency of climate change. The NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome might play a role here. In response, some photographers have undertaken projects that document how climate change disrupts communities, forever altering their daily lives, either recurrently or irreversibly.
This is the approach of photographer Lisa Murray, who has deliberately focused her work on individuals directly impacted by climate change. For her, it is a genuine crusade against climate skeptics. Lisa travels across Asia, India, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya, spending time with local populations to truly understand their challenges.
Partnering with organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation and Oxfam, she highlights the struggles of those affected, aiming “to speak about the incredible number of people who suffer.” As a committed activist, she has created a blog, Faces of Change, to directly showcase the effects of climate change.
John Novis, a photographer and storyteller, has worked on environmental issues, particularly climate change, for over 30 years. He views it as humanity’s greatest global threat but also one of the most challenging to effectively visualize. Any image—whether of extreme weather, scientific evidence, or global protests—can be contested by skeptical media, governments, or corporations. This challenge drives photographers like Novis to become activists, pushing for ever more creative visuals. “Greta Thunberg, Greenpeace, and Extinction Rebellion contribute to spreading these images, not to mention social media, which provides a valuable platform for citizen journalism and enables real-time reporting on climate-related events,” he says.
Promoting Positive Ecology
Photography can also serve to promote positive environmental actions. Images showcasing reforestation projects, sustainable farming, recycling initiatives, or renewable energy production highlight the creative and dynamic solutions being proposed to address current ecological challenges. Undeniably, this type of photography inspires us to adopt environmentally friendly behaviors and participate in ecological initiatives.
One of the most notable projects of this kind was undertaken by the renowned Franco-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, outside his traditional photographic work. Known for his unflinching depictions of minorities and poverty in his published works, Salgado has also been deeply concerned about the dangers of human activities, especially in his native Brazil. These include illegal logging, gold mining, dam construction, cattle farming, and soybean cultivation. Thirty years ago, Salgado and his wife embarked on an ambitious reforestation project by founding the Instituto Terra.
The Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica)—a lush region where Salgado’s father once owned a cattle ranch—had become infertile and degraded. Determined to revive this devastated 550-hectare landscape, the couple began replanting it with an astounding 2.7 million trees.
Over the span of 17 years, wildlife has returned to the area, reclaiming the territory. It now hosts no fewer than 172 bird species, 16 amphibian species, 15 reptile species, and 33 mammal species, including seven globally endangered species. Today, the Instituto Terra aspires to replicate this success across another 1,500 hectares of forest. In collaboration with neighboring landowners, it has also launched a major initiative to locate and protect approximately 300,000 freshwater springs originating from the Rio Doce. This extraordinary project serves as a shining example of positive ecology in action.
Art and Visual Activism
Some photographers use their art to deliver powerful messages through campaigns or installations. Canadian photographer Caroline Cheng is renowned for her artistic images of plastic waste, which form striking compositions that vividly illustrate the impact of consumption on nature. This type of art raises environmental awareness by appealing to emotions and creativity. By using the landscape as a canvas rather than a subject, Cheng seeks to draw attention to the pictorial forms, patterns, and vibrant colors of an unimaginable view from the ground. Her work eliminates any sense of scale, creating a unique perspective.
Vilde Rolfsen, a Norwegian artist, reimagines untamed nature using plastic bags. She sculpts and photographs these bags from within, creating images of massifs, chasms, caves, and ice-like formations. These somewhat eerie landscapes, with their faded colors, appear abandoned by humanity. Through her Plastic Bag Landscapes series, Rolfsen aims to raise awareness of the need to limit the impact of plastic overconsumption on our planet.
Exhibitions and Awareness Campaigns
Photography, publishing, broadcasting, and exhibiting are all ways to raise awareness, challenge perspectives, provoke thought, and inspire behavioral change to break away from old habits. Photography with a message is constructive because it shifts paradigms. Installations, collective publications, video documentaries—any form of creative expression—can be a powerful catalyst for changing attitudes, educating older generations, and engaging the younger generation, which is already active and responsible in addressing environmental issues.
Naturalist photographer Giancarlo Gallinoro, a trained biologist, has long been drawn to polar regions such as Svalbard, Greenland, and Antarctica. His photographic work and role as a cinematographer reflect his unyielding commitment to informing and inspiring others to act for preservation. His contributions to documentaries like Hostile Planet by National Geographic, Terre dell’Orso, and Aspettando la Neve have enhanced public understanding and fueled his educational mission.
Another notable project is Climate Heroes by Maxime Riché, a book that recounts the stories of eight ordinary individuals who rallied thousands to help protect the planet. This unique editorial project is paired with the creation of an NGO that unites grassroots initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Climate Heroes was launched after the COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009, a pivotal moment in elevating the global importance of climate change. Since then, Maxime Riché and his team have traveled the world to meet these everyday climate heroes.
An additional example is the public campaign “Pour une poignée de degrés” (A Handful of Degrees), born from an innovative experiment during COP21. This collective photographic project features the work of Klara Beck, Antoine Bruy, Cyrus Cornut, Charles Delcourt, Tim Franco, Lek Kiatsirikajorn, Olivia Lavergne, Simon Norfolk, Nyani Quarmyne, and Sébastien Tixier. The central theme is global warming, with an interactive twist: the public was invited to respond to each photograph with their own images via a dedicated website. These photo responses were later displayed in an exhibition. The project culminated in a book combining the participatory experience with accompanying texts and poems.
“This book is a poetic dialogue between artists and citizens.”
Conclusion
As we have seen, many photographers dedicate their work to highlighting the urgent ecological crisis. They share a common goal: to raise public awareness of this critical issue and to inspire behavioral and policy changes.
Through exhibitions, books, and social media, photography now reaches vast audiences, potentially touching millions. Its viral nature proves invaluable when it brings ecological challenges into public consciousness, making them accessible to everyone.
Current events continually remind us of the stakes. The images of floods and tornadoes in Valencia, Spain, at the end of October 2024, serve as a stark reminder that no one is immune to the consequences of environmental neglect. These photographers teach us lessons about coexisting with our planet—a necessary personal commitment in today’s world.
And you, what do you think?
