Tag Archives: photographer

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

Images Published in National Geographic Traveler

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Kids jumping off the wharf in Oman

My first travel photographs in National Geographic Traveler have been published! The June edition of the Netherlands travel magazine includes not one, but two articles illustrated with my images. One article visually highlights the wonderful diversity in Oman, where ancient cultures are clashing with modern, oil driven world. The other is a photo essay about the Salzkammergut region in Austrian Alps. To preview the articles, click here.

To celebrate, I am offering a 30% discount on prints on any of the 25 images that appear in the magazine if you use the coupon code ‘natgeocelebration’.

Go HERE to browse the images

Remember, use coupon code: natgeocelebration on checkout!

And don’t forget to share this with a friend so they can benefit from this offer as well.

Offer expires on June 30, 2010

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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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.

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.


Best of 2009 – 20 Images of Climate Change Activism

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The Rise of a Climate Change Movement – 20 Images from 2009 – I spent the majority of 2009 focusing on the climate change social movement and working closely with the international youth climate movement, ngo’s and the TckTckTck campaign.