^{_{This photo was taken for the Green Office’s Autumn Photography Competition, on the theme: Decay, which took place between the months of October-November 2022.}}

Medium: Analogue

Too many take nature in all its formation for granted, as a given, exploiting and morphing it to fit into a worldview of anthropocentrism. Treating nature as a playground for such exploitative and opportunistic intentions, fueled by the opportunistic and expansive implications of capitalism, has proven to pose serious threats to future generations. Young people are forced to engage with substantial questions about the habitability of the most fundamental base for life: our planet.

In my opinion, in every discussion about global warming and all the intertwining problems that need quick and permanent fixing, one aspect is very often forgotten: nature’s resilience. Of course, if we do not take on a completely different course very, very soon, the majority of the planet’s biodiversity will be wiped out, certain patches of land will not be habitable anymore, and nature will suffer profoundly. Nonetheless, flora and fauna will prevail through the most corrosive times caused by human beings – nature will prevail and come out at the other side, weakened, but alive. My photographs show its resilience, its ingrained ability to adapt and take root in new ways. Humanity, on the other hand, will with current developments not be able to survive the self-caused atrocities of global warming.

Therefore, I deem it highly necessary to alter the discussion, away from the prevailing discourse of the Anthropocene, putting the human in the center and superior to nature, and towards a more homogeneous treatment of nature and humankind. To change course and potentially save our lives on this planet, it is crucial to recognize nature’s resilience to our actions and find ways to visualize ourselves as part of it, as entrenched beings, instead of following the calamitous route we are on and judge nature inferior and passive. It is not.