Why conservation photography?
Conservation photography is perhaps the single biggest driver to what I do today. There is no question that the world and our environment is being threatened from all sides. I believe that there is great benefit to humanity (and obviously to the rest of the species that share our planet) to leave and preserve vast areas in their wildest state. As such, I believe that we all have a responsibility to share in that effort. Images are very powerful. They are able to instantaneously transmit a message irrespective of the gender, culture, age group or sex of the audience. If used creatively and informatively photography can go a long way to persuading public emotions to further our goals of conservation. Particularly those of us, I believe, who benefit from the wild or protected areas, should be the first in line to help preserve them. Many photographers use these areas simply for personal photographic reasons without any payback to the region. If we (the countless millions of us) as a photographic community consolidate our efforts, amateur or professional, we become a massive lobby for the defence of nature.