An old friend of mine, renowned wildlife photographer Koichi Fujiwara, is busy preparing for a big exhibition of his photos which opens later this month in Japan. The images he captures are a mixture of stunning, cute, and thought-provoking but they all have one thing in common – they tell the story of the environmental crisis our world is currently facing.
In ‘The Earth is calling us – listen to Nature’s voice’, a special exhibition to coincide with the COP10 Biodiversity Conference in Nagoya, Ko shares a stark snapshot of the state of the planet. Through beautiful photos he shows how our actions are completely shaking up the world’s ecosystems, and the impact that is happening on some of our most treasured animals.
As a perpetual traveller and the only person to have photographed every species of penguin in the world, he is taking the planet’s pulse first hand. From Komodo Dragons in Indonesia and Giant Spiny Chameleons in Madagascar, to Orang-utans in Borneo and seals in Antarctica, Ko has brought back a suitcase full of visual treasures from his travels, but with a frightening message about what we might find (or not) if we travel to those same places next year, next decade, next century.
If you happen to be in Nagoya, do check it out. If not, you can always see some of Ko’s photos on his website Nature’s Planet or peruse one of the many books he has written. (The site is in Japanese but is easy to hop about and find photos.)
He got me thinking about the importance of photography not just to capture beauty, stash away memories and catalogue history as it happens, but also to influence the future. The seemingly inevitable doesn’t necessarily have to become history, if the images are powerful enough to make us change how we live in the present.
What powerful images of our time have you seen lately? Do share with a link!
