The landscapes of Planet Earth are a standalone form of art, but it takes true talent to capture them through the lens of a camera. In this article, I am gladly sharing a couple of nature photography projects that didn’t receive the publicity they deserve.
Spill by Daniel Beltra
Over the past fifty years, man-made disasters have become dishearteningly commonplace. Daniel Beltra’s Spill and other projects perfectly capture all the horrific consequences of such events.
The Spanish photographer is known for his controversial photographs. By capturing the consequences of human interaction with nature, he shows his passion for preserving the environment. Beltra sees something special in this imagery and conveys it through beautiful and frightening stills.
We all have heard about numerous similar catastrophes – often unaware of the repercussions, humans mercilessly destroy the ecology of the planet to feed the bottomless maw of technological development.
Daniel Beltra’s distinct style is based on large-scale aerial photography. The look from above gives the viewer a deeper understanding of nature’s pristine beauty and the anthropogenic horrors.
After two months of photographing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, arguably one of the worst man-made disasters in world history, he published many stunning images of the polluted area.
His work has garnered many prestigious photography awards such as Wildlife Photographer of the Year, World Press Photo, and many others; his photos are published in The New York Times, Le Monde, Time, and so on.
Over the past two decades, Beltra has worked on all seven continents, including several expeditions to the Brazilian Amazon, the Arctic, the Southern Oceans, and the Patagonian ice fields. He finds inspiration in nature – its diversity and complexity.
In Landscapes by Petros Koublis
Endless landscapes, fluidity of form, abstractions, lonely animals, and not a single person – striking stills of nature are based on the author’s personal philosophy – irrational sensitivity.
Petros Koublis started his career in photography in 2000. Prior to that, he devoted several years to painting, considering this to be his destiny. However, as soon as the camera came into his hands, Koublis’s idea of art changed.
Petros studied photography in Athens and participated in a series of seminars on the history of photography, but Koublis’s personal style was most influenced by independent research.
Since 2004 he has been working professionally, doing fashion and portrait photography. His images have been featured in major art and design periodicals, magazines such as the British Journal of Photography, the Royal Photographic Society Journal, European Photography, and others. He currently writes for the American edition of The Huffington Post and works as a photographer in the United States and Europe.
For Petros, photography is akin to archeology. Only the concept of time is completely changed: archeology reveals what has survived the past, while photography creates what intends to survive the future. Often focusing on nature, Petros Koublis explores the mystical nature of landscapes.
The In Landscapes project is an exploration of the parallel world of Greek nature. Surrounded by the silence of century-old olive groves, meadows, mountains, and seas, the city is struggling for its existence, faced with a harsh and tense reality, depression and crisis. The silence that reigns less than 30 miles from the hectic downtown surrounds the capital’s loud and desperate screams. The outskirts of the capital live in a parallel reality, where time moves at a different speed. This place speaks to the human spirit in a long-forgotten language.
Petros sought to express the vague presence that wanders these areas, the lost connection between the city dweller and beauty that always remains distant, strange, and unfamiliar.
Salt and Sky by Brooke Holm
Brooke was born in California and moved to Australia nine years later. Since childhood, she was sure her vocation is creativity, but she did not even suspect that her passion for photography would bring her recognition.
Until the age of twenty, the girl took on any job, be it garbage collection or milk delivery. The occasional odd job cycle ended when she got a job taking some pictures for an advertising agency.
Now Brooke Holm lives in New York and conducts 101 Photography workshops at The School of Megan Morton. She helps those wishing to find their own style and demonstrates how to use natural light and edit footage.
In a series of photographs titled Salt and Sky, the natural geometry of the elements – earth, air, and water – form the majestic expanses of natural landscapes, and each picture exudes serenity.
The photographs look like oil canvases, and the delicate pastel colors make them resemble paintings even more. It is no exaggeration to say that the photos of Salt and Sky are paintings created by nature itself, which we can enjoy owing to the unique talent of Brooke Holm.
