The icebergs at the Polar Regions have a story to tell. A story which points us towards a grave truth about the increasing dangers of climate change. The picturesque beauty of the stranded icebergs, glaciers, and the ice shelf are truly mesmerizing. Here we take a glimpse of the stunning icebergs and glaciers through Camille Seaman’s camera whose book Melting Away showcases her 10-year long journey through the endangered Polar Regions. The book releases on 2nd December 2014.
This unforgettable journey which began 10 years back started with Camille Seaman visiting Alaska, Svalbard, and Antarctica. She was wonderstruck by the beauty of these places and couldn’t resist taking photos. The epic landscapes and frozen white vistas that were visually stunning overtook the reality of climate change which Camille later realized.
I felt like no picture I could take would make enough of a difference.
Today, at the age of 45, Camille is trying her best to try and make a difference through her photographs which were taken by her. An entire decade of five summers stays in the Arctic and five winters stays at Antarctica were spent by Camille aboard the I/B Kapitan Klebnikov, a Russian icebreaker and on various tourist and research vessels.
Camille’s father belonged to the Shinnecock tribe on Long Island which made her feel connected to these places. The Native American Heritage helped her to appreciate nature and gave her a true understanding as she saw those giant icebergs as part of her own world.
She says, “I approached them as my relatives, literally, and not in some poetic way. I saw them as part of my lineage, as part of my existence. And I think that kind of approach allowed for emotion to be present in the photos. I saw them as more than chunks of ice.”
…that kind of approach allowed for emotion to be present in the photos.
Some of the initial photos which Camille took were greatly appreciated and displayed at Review Santa Fe and the Eddie Adams Barnstorm Workshop. These photos were also published in National Geographic.
Since 2011, after an exhausting 10 years of capturing the poles, Camille stopped visiting the already melting regions as she felt that she was contributing to the rise of temperatures in these regions with the continuous use of fossils fuels in airplanes and ships. “I stopped going because it felt so futile,” she says. “I felt like no picture I could take would make enough of a difference.”
Also Read: Ross Ice Shelf – World’s Biggest Iceberg
Camille Seaman has been working tirelessly to spread awareness and helping people to understand the gravity of the situation through her photos which still get published in numerous magazines worldwide. Along with her passion of photography, she is also a senior member at TED; she created The Earth Academy, an online educational resource about sustainable living; and she is a member of the Council on the Uncertain Human Future. The following is a video shown by Camille at the TED conference with some mesmerizing photos of the arctic along with a magnificent sight of a rolling iceberg in real time.
One of the questions which many people have asked Camille is that what they can do to address the climate change. To which she replies,
“If we can create a conversation and start to collectively talk about different ideas for how to ensure these places that I’ve photographed will exist for their children and their children’s children,” she says, “then I feel like that’s a healthy response to the work.”
Camille feels that people own a responsibility to engage in conversations rather than her telling people what to do. Rather than talking about recycling, reducing the carbon emissions and so on, she thinks that people should first give a thought of what they themselves might like to do about it.
We hope at Search of Life that works such as these should never go in vain. If not a complete stop to environmental degradation, we do have the ability to reduce the degree of abuse we are inflicting upon our Mother Nature.
We leave you with some amazing shots taken by Camille Seaman which will instill you with a sense of freshness as well as provoke some introspection. Get transfixed by beauty!!
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