The Unfortunate Cost of Progress

The photo pierces a sensitive spot, to say the least, in both execution and subject matter (click the photo to enlarge). The weathered dignity from this lone, imposing warrior of the African savannah, whose life-sized photo is positioned among the filth and decay of what was once his home is tough to swallow. He stands as one of the truly unique animals of this earth, with broken tusk and tattered ears, a survivor of the harsh African environment, yet unable to escape the filthy residue of our encroaching world. And it strikes at the very heart of our modern comforts. I find it difficult to contemplate for long and not feel a pang of guilt piercing my own culpability over what is happening to his world. I am not the one actively destroying it, of course, but I am no doubt part of the problem…we are all.

The above photo is from a new collection by the photographer Nick Brandt, who I first stumbled across a few years ago from an impressive Coffee Table book titled “One This Earth“. The book contained an incredible collection of his work. In fact, I had never seen such beautifully composed photos of wildlife before. The man has a sublimely stylistic eye. His photos are absolutely stunning examples of composition, lighting, and repose, as Brandt showcases the majesty of African wildlife in their natural environment. Just to be clear on that point, he described in an interview the patience required for some of those shots, waiting for days at a time out on the African plains, in the intense African heat, with flies as large as moths, and carnivores walking all about…… all for the chance to capture a shot of his subject straying into the right spot at the right time. Yet for all their inherent beauty, the photos do not demand anything from us, aside from the casual hope that they will always be there for us to admire. If he intended a message for us, it was implicit, lurking beneath the beauty of his shots.

But as you can see with this new collection, titled “Inherent the Dust”, Brandt is making the narrative explicit. Each shot shows the disorienting and haunting aftermath of Africa’s economic growth and the increasing loss of grazing lands that are tens of millions of years old. With his obvious love for these unique creatures, this new collection is the next logical step for him, which is to ratchet up the urgency and make their plight as explicitly as possible.

As hard as it is for me to admit, I simply cannot duck the understanding that the same progress that I enjoy so much in the arts and culture at large, is the same progress that is destroying their habitat…at least indirectly. And I don’t say that with a false projection of guilt, but with the reality of the economics at play. For our culture to inspire and support artistic and intellectual progress, capital is required. That is simply the nuts and bolts of the thing; it takes disposable money for municipalities and the public alike to fund artistic endeavors that are rarely revenue generators, whether they be painters, musicians, or poets. It is no accident that the cities around the world that are most active in the arts are also the wealthiest; New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, just to name a few. Each of them are pushing our global civilization forward in wonderfully inventive ways, but it requires a financial ecosystem to sustain that progress, and that progress often stretches out its arms to those who are most desperate for it.

And there we cannot simply target poachers for their blind greed, because the best option to counter them is to have jobs and wages to offer, and that requires commerce and trade. The real long-term threat to our “lone warrior” above is a global economic engine that encourages these countries to cut corners by sacrificing their true treasures. They may believe it offers them a seat at the table, but the reality is they’ll only be offered larger pieces of crumbs.  

It would be easy to admonish them for their shortsightedness, and rail against their blind greed, but how insulting would that be for us to do; the richest nations on this earth to presume that these poverty-stricken countries should remain poverty stricken, all so we can occasionally see those beautiful creatures wondering across the African savannah……. all from the comfort of our sofa. That is not meant to excuse their choices, but only to state that their motivations are clear and present.

The answer, of course, is to create an economic alternative, a viable option that incentivizes financial reasons to preserve these creatures and their habitat. But that will all depend on how passionate we are about this planet that we all share and the influence we have to preserve it. In that regard, I give my utmost respect and financial support to artists like Brandt who are providing the kindle to fire up our awareness.