19. Conservation Photography and Beauty Activism – with Cristina “Mitty” Mittermeier

“It's a delicate balance trying to encourage people to participate more and learn more without being terrified and becoming numb and apathetic. It's a dance every day.”

- Cristina Mittermeier

SYNOPSIS:

Audacious, spunky, courageous, defiant, sensitive, compassionate, fierce… These are just some of the words that I feel radiating from the formidable spirit and woman that is Cristina “mitty” Mittermeier. Hailed as one of the most influential conservation photographers of our time, this Mexican national has dedicated her entire life to protecting the world's oceans - and through her work and art, has inspired millions of people to do the same.  

Cristina was one of the first pioneers in the concept and field of conservation photography – a kind of career, as you will hear in this episode, that is vastly different to other kinds of photography. Once told to sit down and be quiet when she asked at a conference early on in her career how photography could be used on behalf of advocacy for the world’s last wild places, Cristina now has millions of followers, who are drawn to the stunning and strategic communications of her non-profit organisation Sea Legacy (which she founded with her husband Paul Niklen) all of which sit at the intersection of art, science, and conservation.

Cristina’s work has been published in hundreds of prominent magazines, including National Geographic. Cristina and Paul use Sea Legacy as a platform for other photographers, storytellers, ambassadors, and local communities doing critical conservation work to get their story out into the world - in that way, they are amplifiers of the world’s most far flung voices and the ocean’s precious inhabitants.

With that photography, should we be pushing out pictures showing the majesty of nature? Or should conservation photography also run a whole gamut of realistic but potentially emotionally distressing content? As we discuss today, it's a fine line and a delicate balance to tread in telling it as it is, whilst infusing hope in others, AND not wearing oneself down in anger or despair as we do so.

We also speak about common myths or misconceptions that exist about the ocean as well as speculate on the creation of blue economies, what justice looks like for coastal communities, and how the world might change the immense value of these blue natural capital ecosystem would be entered into the PNL of a country.

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Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier is a Mexican photographer, conservationist, marine biologist, and author, who pioneered the concept and field of conservation photography. Her images focus on demonstrating the important relationship between human cultures, indigenous people and biodiversity, the ocean and climate change.

Hailed as one of the most influential conservation photographers of our time, she has dedicated her entire life to protecting the World's oceans - inspiring millions of people to do the same. She graduated from the ITESM University in Mexico with a degree in Biochemical Engineering in Marine Sciences. She later attended the Fine Art Photography program at the Corcoran College for the Arts in Washington, D.C. In 2005 Mittermeier founded the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) to provide a platform for photographers working on environmental issues and coined the phrase "conservation photography".

In 2014 she co-founded SeaLegacy, a non-profit organization using strategic communications at the intersection of art, science, and conservation to protect and rewild the ocean for the benefit of biodiversity, humanity, and climate within our lifetimes. SeaLegacy is the global marketing, education, and communication agency for the ocean. At the nexus of climate action and sustainable solutions, we create the strategies and content that move audiences into action.

Mittermeier's work has been published in hundreds of prominent magazines, including National Geographic, TIME, McLean's, The Men's Journal and O. Along with her partner, Paul Nicklen, she was named one of National Geographic's Adventurers of the Year in 2018.

QUOTES:

• I was in the water with this mom and calf Right whale, and in my head were the questions: “Where have you been? Where did you come from? I mean, what kinds of things have you seen?”

• So if this whale could speak to me, hopefully it would say, I remember what was done to my kind, and I forgive you. And I hope you will do the right thing by us.

• If speaking for them and on their behalf makes me a non-journalist, so be it. I will be an activist instead.

• The work begins the moment after we push the shutter. We have to put those images to work. That's the real work. And that person is a conservation photographer.

• You'd be so surprised to learn that most of my followers are women, a lot of them are mothers and young women with all these anxieties and the same helplessness that we feel because we still live in a patriarchy.

• Susan Sontag in the 1970s was writing about the courage it takes to see the pain of others, and the importance of photographers in the front lines to prevent us from numbing ourselves to the horrors of war. Well, the war on biodiversity is no different. Somebody needs to be in the front lines to remind us of what's being lost. And if we don't have the courage to look it in the eye, then we cannot solve it.

• It's a delicate balance trying to encourage people to participate more and learn more without being terrified and becoming numb and apathetic. It's a dance every day.

• I believe that every child on this planet is born with an intense love and curiosity about nature and wildlife. And that is something that is beaten out of children by the fear of adults, teachers, parents. So I implore anybody with children to just let kids be curious about the natural world.

• We have to find ways of making participation inclusive. And by that, I mean, we really have to lower the price of entry.

• I do know this, and I know it with certainty. It takes public support and public opposition. If people are not willing to participate and raise their voice at the dinner table, at the protest, at the political meeting, then it's not going to happen. And the first step for that is to infuse yourself with that courage to speak up, to be unpopular, not to cater to what your neighbor's opinion might be. We just have to have a little more courage.

• I oftentimes think of myself as this semi permeable membrane and there's a conversation happening through me between this thing that I'm photographing and the person who's looking at it. The story is not about me, it comes through me and all I can do is facilitate.

• The ocean was being ignored. You read the IPCC report and it's barely mentioned. It's like a little side note and yet it's the largest and the most important ecosystem on planet Earth. If we are indeed a spaceship and you open the hood, the ocean is the engine that drives life on this planet.

• The best photographers are not the ones that have the best camera or the biggest skills. The best photographers are the ones that are willing to conquer boredom, discomfort, and fatigue.

• A single industrial fishing boat can extract in a single night what the entire artisanal fishing body of the entire Baja California shore can extract in a year. These massive ships are an incredible threat to humanity.

• I'll tell you what, Alexa, I don't want to be angry doing this work. I don't want to be hurt doing this work. I want to be empowered and joyful, infused with positivity and hope. And I want to fill my spirit with good work.

SHOW LINKS

• Cristina homepage https://www.cristinamittermeier.com/

• Sea Legacy https://www.sealegacy.org/

• Sea Legacy “Areas of Impact” Framework for the oceans https://www.sealegacy.org/areas-of-impact/

• 100 For the Ocean https://www.100fortheocean.com/password

• Key Conservation https://www.keyconservation.org/

CREDITS

• Cover Photo: The lady Mitty herself!

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