Ants in the snow

by Matthew Cobb

These aren’t ants, of course. They are caribou migrating in Alaska, part of a fantastic set of photographs ‘Caribou and Oil’, taken by Indian-born US photographer, Subhankar Banerjee. His website says:

Over the past decade he has been a leading international voice on issues of arctic conservation, indigenous human rights, resource development and climate change. More recently he has also been focusing on global forest deaths from climate change. His photographs, writing and lectures have reached millions of people around the world.

Of his arctic work he says:

“I had thought and most people around the world think of the Arctic as a remote place disconnected from our daily lives. On the contrary, now I think of the Arctic as one of the most connected places on our planet. The connection is both celebratory and tragic. Hundreds of millions of birds migrate to the Arctic from every corner of the Earth, a planetary of celebration of global interconnectedness. Also, caribou, whales and fish migrate hundreds, and sometimes thousands of miles and connect indigenous communities of the Arctic through subsistence food harvest — local and regional connectedness. On the other hand, industrial toxins migrate to the Arctic from every part of the planet making animals and humans in some parts of the far north among the most contaminated inhabitants on Earth. Also, climate change is wreaking havoc up there as the Arctic is warming at twice the rate as the rest of the planet. We are all connected to the northern landscape and we all have an obligation to ensure a healthy future for our northern neighbors — humans and nonhumans.”

Have a look at his photos here. Those of you who are in Los Angeles can go and see one of his exhibits at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions in Hollywood.

h/t Andrew King (@SHOALgroup) and Visual Science.