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At the JW Gallery in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn,
there is smart, though small, exhibition of photography titled
“Photographers’ Perspectives on Global Warming.” Without taking an
open political stance, the show, through its photos, allows us to see
global warming as a warning of how the world might be if we allow the
desecration of the environment to continue.
Ably put together by first time curator Joshua Wolfe, also represented
in the gallery with his photos from Tuvalu, a tiny island in Oceania
that is under threat from changing tides, any of these photos are a
reminder of how the world as we know it changing before our eyes. The
exhibition has photos from Gary Braasch, well known for his wildlife
pictures, and from Ashley Cooper, a freelance photographer based in
England whose photos are about the melting permafrost. There are also
telling shots from Peter Essick, who does much work for National
Geographic on environmental issues, and Cedric Faimali, a
photojournalist with the French collective Argos, whose pictures from
Chad move us because what they represent seems so hopeless.
These photos are not so remarkable by themselves,
though many are striking and some have stark beauty. It is that they
are important, a word I do not usually use because it elevates
journalism to something it only rarely is. Global warming is a
mystery. A puzzle. The concept and science are very controversial. It
is an enormous political football here at home and in the world. Many
in our government do not subscribe to the notion of greenhouse gases,
melting glaciers and disappearing coastlines. There is no doubt that
the Arctic is melting. The tundra is disappearing. Drought is more
prevalent in many parts of the world, especially in Africa. Hurricanes
grow more deadly. Can we blame global warming for those events? I do
not know. Nature changes however it wants without much help from man,
and it has been doping so for millennia. But looking at these pictures
at the JW Gallery in Brooklyn makes me wonder about the state of the
natural world, the influence on it of global warming, and if there is
anything we are able do to prevent the already deadly predicament we
find ourselves facing.
I believe we are in serious trouble with the environment. Look around
and open your eyes. I am sure you will agree that is not a great
revelation. Unless people everywhere realize it, we are helping to
destroy our earth. This is not a legacy to leave our children. By not
caring about our world, or worse, ignoring the results of how we
pollute it, we are making it impossible for future generations to
exist in the natural world, as we know it. Think of it. Natural forces
might destroy us before the terrorists in our midst do the job.
This exhibition is a worthy endeavor, at times moving, and certainly
educational. Though it closed in early November, there should be an
effort to give it wider distribution and thus a wider audience.
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At NBC News for 35 years, Ron Steinman was bureau chief
in Saigon, Hong Kong and London, was a senior producer on Today and wrote
and produced for Sunday Today. At ABC News Productions, he produced
and wrote documentaries for A&E, TLC, Discovery, Lifetime and the
History Channel. He has a Peabody, a National Headliner award, a
National Press Club award, a International Documentary Festival Gold
Camera Award, two American Women in Radio & Television awards and
has been nominated for five Emmy's. He is a partner in
Douglas/Steinman Productions, whose latest documentary, "Luboml: My
Heart Remembers," aired on PBS' WLIW/21 and the History Channel in
Israel, April 29, 2003. He is the author of, "The Soldiers 'Story",
"Women in Vietnam," and most recently, "Inside Television's First
War: A Saigon Journal," University of Missouri Press, 2002. |
Global
Warming Photography