ENVIRONMENT
I am strongly dedicated to using my photography to advance environmental causes through advocacy as well as to minimizing the environmental footprint of my photography.
Environmental Advocacy
As someone who has always been interested in exploring and photographing the natural world, environmentalism has always been one of my core values. For the first decade or so of my photographic career, though, I photographed mostly in a non-political way, but in the last few years I have dedicated myself to using my photography for environmental advocacy.
In addition to various fundraisers over the years, my newest and current project, Annals of the Former World, has environmental advocacy (specifically relating to climate change) at its core. With Annals and future projects, I hope to use photography to influence public opinion and decision-makers and to directly impact environmental causes through fundraising and awareness. I teach a workshop entitled Photography and Environmental Advocacy at Maine Media Workshops as well.
Environmental Footprint
The environmental footprint of each person and activity is a complex determination. Travel to locations, purchase of equipment, electrical use for computers, printing on paper, and so on all have an impact. I’m researching and thinking about these issues constantly and I will share my thoughts here as I continue to find new ways of reducing my impact. Obviously societal changes will be necessary to reduce the impacts of climate change and the actions of any one person will not be dispositive, but broader societal changes often start with the actions of individuals.
Because of my printing studio, I’ve been very focused on reducing the environmental impact of the printing process. You can find out more about that journey here. As a starting point, I try to utilize recycled materials, locally-sourced or sustainable products, and continue to reduce the carbon impact of my materials and printing.
As of May 2022, my photography and printing studio (which includes my printing business, Nickelson Editions) is generating 100% of the electricity used each year via solar power. It has taken about five years of upgrades to our home, but with the addition of extra solar arrays on our garage we now generate enough solar throughout the year to satisfy all of our electrical needs, including all heating and cooling via heat pumps (not a trivial aspect of living in Maine winters) as well as our first fully electric car.