Provoking Conservation Action with Photography • Celina Chien
(Tropical Forest Ecology Masters Student, Imperial College London || UK)
“My goal is to provoke conservation action. Scientific data, words, and figures are not compelling to people outside of the field, including policymakers. As I see it, my role as a wildlife photographer is to connect people, in an emotional way, with what the science is saying, and ultimately to connect them to the extent that they feel compelled to act.
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I am currently working on a long-term project about how society perceives and values nature, tropical forests in particular. There is this idea of ‘untouched’ and ‘pristine’ land — in contrast to land used for extraction — but this is an unrealistic framework rooted in colonialism. We need to treat ourselves as part of the ecosystem; humans existed in these areas long before modern extractive practices. Research shows that conservation practice can protect biodiversity while allowing local communities to secure livelihoods by engaging with nature sustainably. I hope I can use photography to communicate this story and change the way we manage our forests.
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I just finished my BSc in Biology and am now starting an MRes in Tropical Forest Ecology. The thing I’ve loved most about university is how much it changed my mind about things I thought I had already solidified my opinion on. Like, for a lot of conservation, environmental, and climate change issues, I had just consumed what the media feeds to the public without actually consulting the scientific literature. The more I learned, the more I realised I was lacking nuance and complexity. For example, people are really into the idea of saving a specific species, like the black rhino or tiger. But you have to think, ‘What am I ultimately trying to achieve?’ and focus on that instead. I think it’s more important to protect an entire ecological landscape, instead of single species in isolation. My degree has really allowed me to understand the science beneath the surface of these global issues, and help me think about the bigger picture on greater timescales.”
See Celina’s photography website here: https://www.celinachien.com/
