In honor of Earth Day, I want to take you into the PhotoPhilanthropy essay collection. We have some truly incredible work depicting some very complicated issues.
An activist known as the Weld Angel sits in a tripod blocking a logging road into the southern forests of Tasmania.
One of the most powerful essays I’ve seen is by Matthew Newton who photographed logging in the forests of Tasmania on behalf of the Huon Valley Environment Centre. His images have incredible storytelling power. He starts off by giving us a pair of images that sums up the controversy. (And it helps that he writes specific, direct captions.)
Old growth forests of The Weld Valley in Southern Tasmania earmarked for logging in 2009.
An activist stands upon a giant stump and stares towards the remaining forest. In the Styx Valley of Southern Tasmania.
He uses text within the frame—badges, signs, patches, tape—to help describe the complexities of this battle. He magnifies the marketing and communication that the people involved have initiated in order to articulate what’s going on.
A log truck driver at a pro logging rally in Hobart Tasmania.
He also zooms in and out on the issue, photographing radically different environments and situations, which strengthens the narrative. He shows us that this is a story of individuals, of civic institutions, of an industry, and of a landscape and a region, as we see here:
After clearfelling logging coups are set alight with a napalm like substance.
This is just a killer essay. The one thing that shocks me is that it’s so recent. It looks like a fight that was fought decades ago. But it’s happening now.
To see more essays, click on the photographs below:
Neil Osborne, on behalf of SEE Turtles
Hawaii has become known as one of the best places in the world to get close to sea turtles. Maui, Hawaii, USA.
Eric Graham on behalf of ACCA
Anne Marie Musselman on behalf of Nyaru Mengteng Orangutan Sanctuary
Baby Orangutan at the Nursery at Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Sanctuary in Central Kalimantan after a fun day learning how to survive in the forest without their real mothers. Most of the residents here are victims of the Palm Oil Industry in Malaysia and Indonesia where Palm Oil plantations have taken the place of many species original habitats in over 90% of Borneo's forests. This sanctuary houses 700 orangutans.
Tags: animals, Anne Marie Musselman, conservation, Earth Day, Eric Graham, forests, logging, Matthew Newton, Neil Osborne, orangutans, photo, photography, photojournalism, PhotoPhilanthropy, protests, Tasmania, turtles