Category Archives: Climate

Photographic Stories and Material relating to Climate Change

Tar Sands and the First Nations – Selects

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The crux of any environmental industrial development is the relationship between people on the land and the newly manufactured landscape. Rarely has the coverage of the Tar Sands in Northern Alberta gone beyond environmental impact and touched on the story of the impact on First Nations culture. Yet, this development is having a profound affect on the lifestyle of the indigenous peoples of the region.

Fort Chipewyan is experiencing elevated levels of cancer believed to be caused by toxins in the Athabasca from major industrial developments upstream. On the other hand, communities have gained employment. What does the boom mean for quality of life, how does it relate to cultural heritage of the indigenous, and what cost or benefit is this project having on the indigenous cultures of Northern Alberta?

The following images are the initial selects from an Audio/Visual project that attempts to answer some of these questions.


Tar Sands – Selects from Indigenous Project in Northern Alberta – Images by Robert vanWaarden

Climate Faces – Photography Exhibit at the United Nations

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greenland panoramic mountains

Exhibition Panel 1 - United Nations

UPDATED IMAGE BELOW

Tomorrow, July 14, the exhibit, Climate Faces – Changing Earth, Changing Lives opens at the United Nations in New York. Featured are my photographs from the 2008 Cape Farewell Voyage.

This exhibit documents young climate activists exploring the impacts of climate change on the Arctic and how they learned to communicate the issue. It follows on the heels of successful showings in locations around the world, including; Trafalgar Square, Parliament Hill Ottawa, India and Mexico.

The exhibit runs until the end of July. If you can’t make it to New York, click here to see some of the images on display.

More about this British Council project.
In September 2008, 28 high school students from Canada, Brazil, Germany, India, Ireland, Mexico and the United Kingdom boarded a Russian research vessel in Reykjavik, Iceland, and sailed around the southern tip of Greenland to Iqaluit on Canada‘s Baffin Island. On the trip, they were accompanied by scientists, artists and educators, who engaged them in a variety of programmes on board the ship and on shore.

Update: A picture of the opening banner at the UN: Provided by Esperanza Garcia

opening at the UN imagea

Activism, Coal and Arizona

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“Just seeing the future for us and knowing that they [our parents] wanted a better future for us, fern benallyI have the same feeling for, not myself, but the kids and for my relatives and that something better will be in the future for them, that keeps me going. Knowing that we have succeeded in one step and maybe we can continue on and see a better future for all of us.

[One of] the other things that keeps me going is knowing that one of my great aunts and my great uncles [had] respiratory problems. Their breath was taken away slowly inch by inch, feeling like they were being suffocated. When they died, thinking about them and thinking that how much better it would be for the rest of the people here. I don’t want them to die that way anymore, I want them to be able to breathe.” Fern Benally, Navajo Activist.

Shadia Fayne Wood from Project Survival Media and I just finished an assignment in Arizona, covering an incredible group of activists that are working hard to stop dirty energy on the Navajo Reservation and pushing the envelope on clean energy development. We are focusing on the closing of one of the coal mines in the area, the tactics that were used and what this means to the people affected by the closure.

The former coalmine is in the Benally’s backyard, land that has been the families for thousands of years. For the last 30 years, 24 hours a day, the large coal trucks would rumble by the house and the coal crusher would drown out nature. Now, thanks to incredible co-operation and dedication amongst groups like the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Grand Canyon Trust and the Sierra Club, the life of mine permit was revoked in January. Now, the Benally’s can hear the birds sing and watch the stars like their ancestors did long before Europeans came here.

There are still many examples of environmental racism here in Arizona and across our planet. But, it is important to celebrate victories and share the knowledge so that we can all move towards a sustainable future. More to come on this project in the future.

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Two photographs of Monument Valley, which is the best?

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I want your opinion!

I was recently in Monument Valley in Arizona and I created these two drastically different images of the landscape with the mittens. Photographed only 50m apart, these two images raise several questions about composition, viewer opinion and human impact on our environment. I want to know which image you prefer. Image #1: The Cedar Log and Mittens or Image #2: The Parking Lot.

Which one do you prefer and why? Leave your comment below.

Climate Change 2009 – Explosion of a social movement

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In 2009, millions of people came together around the world to pressure leaders to sign a legally binding and ambitious deal in Copenhagen. Although the final result in Copenhagen was a failure, 2009 was the year that the climate movement exploded. This energy will carry forward and we will continue to build in numbers until sustainability is achieved.

This multimedia piece looks at the growth of this movement throughout 2009. Take a moment and watch hundreds of those around the world taking action and inspiring others in the fight for climate justice.

All images (unless provided by 350.org) ©Robert van Waarden
Music: Open Road Kisses by The Small Affairs.

Climate Change – Agriculture in Europe, a multimedia piece

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Climate change is drastically altering the landscapes and farming industry of the European Continent. From the mountains of Norway to the low lying lands of Italy, from the innovations in the Netherlands to the suffering crops of Romanian farmers, the Project Survival Media team in Europe has explored this issue and produced a multimedia piece. A brief look at the situation, the piece touches on several issues affecting European farmers and shows that climate change is an issue that affects us all. Farmers are on the front line of the climate crisis, and we need strong, coordinated global action on climate change to ensure survival of this industry and our food supplies.

Cape Farewell – Youth and Climate Change in the Arctic

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In September of 2008 I joined the British Council of Canada as their photographer on the Cape Farewell Expedition 2008. Our goal was to take an international group of 20+ students into the Arctic to teach them about Climate Change and how to use Art to communicate the message effectively.

“The expedition sailed around the southern tip of Greenland to Iqaluit on Canada’s Baffin Island. As ambassadors of their schools and communities, the student voyagers observed and interpreted the effects of climate change in the Arctic. What they saw and experienced inspired them, their fellow students and communities to seek social and technological solutions to this huge global problem.” British Council Website

The images have been exhibited in a variety of countries world wide, including the Parliament buildings in Ottawa and 9 other provincial governments, the Canadian Embassy in Trafalgar Square, the British Embassy in Washington, in Cairo, Mexico, India, the list goes on. They have also been published in CNN, Canadian Geographic and numerous publications and outlets across the globe. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them.


Powershift UK – London, England

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The UKYCC PowerShift Conference, held on Oct. 9-12, 2009, brought together over 250 young people from across the United Kingdom and the world to discuss climate change. The conference taught them how to organize, build a social movement and take creative and intelligent action to tackle the climate crisis. The following collection of photographs documents this climate conference and the incredible youth that are taking the fight to politicians and leaders around the UK. To license, click an image or here.

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PowerShift 2009 – Washington D.C.

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Photographs of PowerShift 09 in Washington. During the last weekend of February, over 10,000 young people descended on Washington D.C for the largest ever conference on climate change and clean energy in the USA.


PowerShift 2009 – Washington D.C – The Full Collection of Images – Images by climate photographer Robert van Waarden.