Am I a Conservation Photographer?

Last fall I took a nature photography workshop. It was an incredible deep-dive into creating pictures. I learned so much, surrounded by these teachers who all identified themselves as “conservation photographers”.

I’ve been contemplating what that means for a while. In the case of the workshop instructors, each of them championed particular environmental causes with their visual and written story-telling. They focused on topics ranging from protecting migration corridors to describing the impact of a watershed; showcasing the natural beauty of a land and its people to sharing the difficult and conflicted perspectives surrounding a successful invasive species. The teachers have phenomenal image-making finesse and style, but also knowledge of their subjects and tangential topics. And, they all somehow managed to share their stories, experiences and expertise across multiple forums and publications to help build compassion for the natural world.

Impressive, right? Reflecting on what they’ve done makes me wonder — can I still be a conservation photographer if I don’t take a similar path? Right now I don’t have a particular cause or story I’d like to focus on. However, I do have a passion for nature and abundant curiosity. I ask a lot of “why” questions. I investigate things I think are intriguing. I love to take pictures and then share the notable and fascinating things I see, experience and learn. Perhaps all this makes me a different kind of conservation photographer. One who asks questions other nature neophytes might ask. One who takes pictures of things that might be obvious and more commonplace, but still lovely. One who shares the abundant variety of nature so we can marvel and revel in the multitudes.

I think there’s room for all sorts of conservation photographers and guess I’ve decided that yes, I AM a conservation photographer.