Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Daniel Beltra




Daniel Beltra is a news photographer specializing in covering environmental issues. He is a freelance photographer for Greenpeace International and was hand picked by Prince Charles for the brand new category in the World Photography Awards: Prince Charles' Rainforests Award. According to ABC news Prince Charles' organization aims to combat deforestation with incentives to keep the natural resources intact. More than 100 of the photographs taken by Beltra will be published in a book that has been sent to world leaders, nongovernmental advocacy groups, and corporate executives before the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference this past December. In the photograph posted, you can see the remains of the Brazilian Nut Tree or castenheira. I feel this photograph shows part of the tragedy that is deforestation. These trees are supposed to be protected by Brazilian law. However, they are burnt down by loggers and the land is used for soy plantations. Below are links to his website as well as other links to play around with.
news article on Beltra and the Prince's Rainforests Award:
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/photographer-daniel-beltr-dedicated-career-nature-conservation/story?id=9138771&page=3
Daniel Beltra's photographic galleries:
http://www.danielbeltra.com/
Greenpeace International Website:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/multimedia-archive/Photo-Essays1/global-vision-award-daniel-b/
Story of Stuff Project:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

3 comments:

  1. Yessenia, that's a stunning photo and some good sources. How do you see the story of stuff helping to give context to it?

    I'm also curious about audience here - it seems like the photo has been sent to very elite and potentially influential people. What does that suggest about the artist's goals? Can you find anything about how these folks responded?
    This will help you when we get to the eventual question of how effective you think the art work was: would effective mean better protection for this tree - or something else?

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  2. I really like this work of art that shows the true face of the corporate world over the earth and as you said in the previous blog:"The effects that our consumerist society has effected on our rain forests and natural glaciers". That is the reason why I strongly suggest the theoretical reading:" Why Johnny can't Dissent" by Thomas Frank, from the green book.

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  3. And here's an interesting source of Beltra in the news right now: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2010/may/25/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-oil

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