Photographers observe, explore, and comment on the world around them with their lenses. The best of this breed of artist create images that are approachable, clever, aesthetically pleasing, refraining from trying to bash you over the head with their work’s meaning. Like the saying goes, “Walk softly but carry a big shtick.”

As both a photographer and appreciator of this art form, I’m constantly amazed by people’s brilliance and insight, especially when their work deals with environmental issues in subtle and clever ways.

Below are a few of the artists that have influenced my own personal work; the last two images, a landscape by my boyfriend Kevin Malella and another by yours truly, are our own variations on this theme, presenting both the sublime and the surreal in respect to our changing environment. The interpretation is up to you…

Photographs (L-R):
1. Dionisio Gonzales – Heliopolis 1
2. Alan Cohen – Construction No. 108-03
3. Edward Burtynsky – Nickel Tailings No. 31 (Sudbury, Ontario 1996)
4. David Maisel – Mining Project 3
5. Edward Burtynsky – Uranium Tailings No. 12
6. David Maisel – Lake Project 20
7. Kevin Malella – Mutated Towers
8. Simone Bogode – River Project No. 3