The role of the environmental photographer is becoming more significant year by year. As flood waters rise and forests burn, climate breakdown is becoming a reality none of us can ignore. Environmental photographers play an important role in informing the public and showing us the changes in our natural world.
Previously, environmental photography was an apolitical pursuit. But environmental photographers all across the world have been radicalized by what they’ve seen. How could they not be? A steady climate has been thrown into disarray, and the effects on the natural world are all too visible.
This article looks at the most influential environmental photographers. We give you a brief introduction to who they are and the work they do. We are sure their work and activism will inspire you to pick up your camera and capture the amazing and often tragic scenes from our glorious planet Earth.
Environmental photography documents the natural environments of Earth, be they grass plains, jungles, or deserts. But the focus is not specifics within those environments.
It is not wildlife photography or nature photography, although it can include those elements. An environmental photographer documents the state of all that live within that environment, including humans. It’s about their relationship and their state of being.
As the global climate and environment become hotter and more pressing topics, environmental photographers are now similar to photojournalists. They raise awareness and show the world the reality of the situation. They may focus on specific areas of the global environment, but their collective work clearly shows the dire situation in which we reside.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Many environmental photographers focus on conservation and restorative efforts. Some also look at more harmonious ways of living and doing business. They show us the stark reality but also shine forth a ray of hope.
Also, if you want to learn more about nature and wildlife photography, you need to check out our Wonderful Wildlife educational eBook. It’s the perfect starting point for anyone interested in animal or environmental photography.
This is our selection of the most influential photographers in the world right now. In many ways, environmental photography has never been more important. These photographers are the vanguard of the genre, showing us the truth and showing us a way to a better world.
Anyone remotely interested in environmental issues should know the name Sebastiao Salgado. Before retiring to his native Brazil, he spent a lifetime covering environmental issues all over the globe.
Salgado was a member of the Magnum photography agency, which tells you about the quality of his photography work. But he was also covering environmental issues long before they were trendy, which is why he is such a pioneer of environmental photography.
Brazil features heavily throughout is back catalog. He’s explored the unending jungles, navigating the rivers that flow like arteries through the dense mass of life. The images are an appreciation of the natural environment. And his work with indigenous communities shows us humans need not be destructive, that we can co-exist with nature.
Hanging up his camera, Salgado and his wife returned to Brazil. His family had a barren, eroded, lifeless patch of life which they have now brought back to life. By planting hundreds of trees, the land if now a vibrant jungle teeming with life.
Going beyond photography, Salgado put his beliefs into practice and revitalized a once-dead wasteland. It’s an inspiring message of how we can turn the tide, end the destruction, and bring life back to the planet.
Sebastiao Salgado: Instagram
Paul Nicklen is a Canadian photographer, filmmaker, and marine biologist. He has received 30 of the highest photography awards in his field.
He has amazing underwater photos. As a professional diver, he captures terrestrial animals as well. He works for National Geographic Magazine as an assignment photographer. And he is also famous for being a conservationist.
Paul and his partner, Cristina Mittermeier, founded SeaLegacy. It is meant to change the narrative around the oceans and create emotional connections between people and mysterious underwater wildlife.
Paul Nicklen: Website | Instagram
Stuart Palley is an aware-winning photographer with a deep love and appreciation for his home state of California.
Some of his most powerful work documents the wildfires that ravaged the state several years ago. But Palley is keen to inform his viewers that this is not an isolated incident. With California’s on-going drought, residents can expect more fires in the future.
Palley is also a keen astrophotographer, capturing glorious images of the night sky above the California desert. He has also done corporate work, but his best work comes when he has his environmental photographer hat on.
Stuart Palley: Website | Instagram
Steve McCurry is an American photographer with humanity as the prime focus of his work. He has documented wars, conflicts, ancient traditions, vanishing, and contemporary cultures.
He is famous for his vivid storytelling and powerful images. His work includes photojournalism, environmental portraiture, documentary, and environmental photography.
People always play a role in McCurry’s images, even in his environmental work. He shows how there is little separation between people and their environment. People use the land, but it also shapes them, their stories, and who they are.
He has received prestigious awards like the Robert Capa Gold Medal and four first-prize awards from the World Press Photo contest. He was also inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame.
Steve McCurry: Website | Instagram
Keith Landinski is a Colorado-based, Emmy-nominated director. And he is a contributing photographer at National Geographic.
His environmental photography puts natural history and climate change in focus. He aims to document our ever-changing planet. Besides focusing on environmental issues, he has amazing photos of extreme sports and famous advertising campaigns.
He is a founding member of the Sea Legacy Collective. And he has earned several awards and honors internationally. His work has been featured in more than 100 cover stories of different magazines, like the New York Times.
Keith Ladzinski: Website | Instagram
Cristina Mittermeier is a Mexican-born photographer, marine biologist, writer, and conservationist. Her work has appeared in several publications like National Geographic and Time.
She takes stunning environmental portraits of people living in distant tribes. And she empowers those who don’t have the chance to speak about their lives and their environmental problems.
Cristina founded the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP). It provides a platform for photographers working on environmental issues. And she is also a co-founder of SeaLegacy with Paul Nicklen.
Cristina Mittermeier: Website | Instagram
Ami Vitale is a National Geographic photographer. She has visited more than 100 countries and always believes in the importance of “living the story.” And she is interested in different social and environmental issues.
She has traveled extensively and lived in war zones. But her focus shifted more to wildlife stories. The turning point was when she photographed one of the world’s last northern white rhinos being released into the wild.
Since then, Ami has raised awareness of environmental issues with her documentation. She has received several prestigious awards. And her work has been published and exhibited internationally.
Ami Vitale: Website | Instagram
Sean Gallagher is a British filmmaker and photographer based in Asia. He has a degree in zoology. And this is what connected him to environmental issues.
He works on creating photography and documentary film projects. He uses them to raise awareness of the climate crisis and other under-reported environmental problems.
Sean’s images are part of the National Geographic Image Collection. And he is a Fellow of the UK Royal Geographical Society. He had a list of stories he wanted to cover. All of them were about biodiversity loss or climate change. His partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting helps make his stories heard.
Sean Gallagher: Website | Instagram
George is an American National Geographic and New York Times photographer. He is curious about remote landscapes, climate change, and the ever-expanding food needs of humanity.
He has traveled the world to explore different subjects and issues. He has completed several major photo essays and stories. And his expeditions to the Sahara and Gobi deserts have been featured in National Geographic Explorer programs.
George has won numerous awards. He also pilots a motorized paraglider that allows him to explore the world’s deserts and capture aerial photos. Now he uses drones for this purpose as well.
George Steinmetz: Website | Instagram
Tim Laman is a field biologist, wildlife photojournalist, and filmmaker. He got his Ph.D. from Harvard for pioneering research in Borneo’s rainforest canopy. Since then, he has focused on telling stories of endangered wildlife.
His most known projects are about birds of paradise and orangutans. And he has been working worldwide, documenting the most remote corners of it.
He has published several feature stories in National Geographic. Plus, he has worked on films with Netflix and BBC. He has won numerous incredibly prestigious awards. His work is featured and exhibited internationally.
Tim Laman: Website | Instagram
Brian Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. His beautiful images show us the daily struggles marine and ocean creatures face and the adverse impact of globalization on animals.
He has an incredible series of eye-opening images. One was of harp seals struggling to survive in frozen waters and the realities of global fisheries.
Brian is a contract photographer for National Geographic and has also received fellowship titles. He was recognized as the Rolex National Photographer of the Year. And he has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award 11 times!
Brian Skerry: Website | Instagram
Aaron Huey is a photographer working for National Geographic. He has created more than 30 stories for the magazine, with several cover stories among them.
He is the founder and chief creative of Amplifier. It’s a nonprofit design lab that uses art and media experiments to amplify our world’s important movements. And he has created several movements, like the global art phenomenon called “We the People” and “We The Future.”
He also raised a lot of money through the Sherpa Photo Fund and directed the Reset Capitalism Campaign, to mention a few. As evident, Aaron stands behind many important movements and uses his art and works to raise awareness.
Aaron Huey: Website | Instagram
Beverly Joubert has specialized in African wildlife photography for over 30 years. She is a fellow of the International League of Conservation photographers. And as well as being a wildlife photographer, she is also a wildlife film producer.
Beverly works with her husband, Derek, to bring awareness to wildlife conservation projects. They are the founders of the Big Cats Initiative with National Geographic.
Their organization, Project Ranger, prevents illegal poaching in Africa. They have received eight Emmys for their filmmaking.
Beverly Joubert: Website | Instagram
Daisy Gilardini is a Canada-based conservation photographer from Switzerland. She specializes in the polar regions. She focuses on conservation and preserving what’s left of nature.
Her photos are mainly of Antarctic wildlife and North American bears. She has visited over 70 countries and joined over 80 expeditions to Antarctica.
Daisy’s work has received prestigious awards internationally, including BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year. She is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), SeaLegacy, and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
Daisy Gilardini: Website | Instagram
Michael Yamashita combines his passion for photography and travel. He has been a National Geographic photographer for over 30 years.
Asia became his special photographic area after spending seven years there. He retraces the paths of famous travelers like Marco Polo. He is a great storyteller who uses his work to document our history and world.
Michael is a lecturer and teacher at schools. He holds workshops and is a keynote speaker for foundations and corporations. He has received numerous awards, and his work has been exhibited all around the globe. Plus, he has published eleven books.
Michael Yamashita: Website | Instagram
Jasper Doest is a Dutch photographer with a major in ecology. His work aims to bridge the gap between society and nature.
He has a playful aesthetic approach to this serious mission. His photographic series often features portraits of animals in urban areas. And his photos beg the question. Is it the animal who is the intruder, or is it us?
Jasper has received numerous awards for his work. This has included World Press Photo and Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He has also contributed to National Geographic and GEO magazine.
Jasper Doest: Website | Instagram
Melissa Groo is a wildlife photographer, writer, and conservationist. She aims to educate people about the natural world and build a connection between them. She does that by raising awareness of the importance and uniqueness of living creatures.
She also focuses on the ethics of wildlife photography. And she has advised countless organizations on ethical practices.
Melissa and Kenn Kaufman created the National Audubon Society’s Guide to Ethical Bird Photography. Melissa is also an Associate Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers. Her work has been published, featured, awarded, and exhibited internationally.
Melissa Groo: Website | Instagram
Peter Essick is a photographer, author, speaker, instructor, and drone pilot specializing in nature and environmental themes. His goal is to document the world and show the human impact of development and the power of the lands.
He has published books and held solo exhibitions as well. And his work has been published in magazines and curated in public and private collections.
He was named one of the 40 most influential nature photographers in the world by Outdoor Photography Magazine. And his stories on environmental issues appeared several times in National Geographic Magazine. These stories speak about climate change, high-tech trash, and freshwater.
Peter Essick: Website | Instagram
Esther Horvath is a Hungarian photographer. She is a fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers and a member of The Photo Society. And she is a science photographer for Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.
Her photographic work is dedicated to the polar regions, especially the Arctic Ocean. She documents scientific expeditions. And these expeditions are for understanding the changes in these regions of our world.
Esther aims to raise awareness of these environments and build a bridge between the world and the scientists’ work. And in 2020, she received first prize in the Environmental Single Category of the World Press Photo Awards.
Esther Horvath: Website | Instagram
Nichole Sobecki is a photographer, filmmaker, and speaker in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work has been awarded and exhibited internationally.
The main focus of her work is humanity’s connection to the natural world. For instance, she has a project titled A Climate for Conflict. It investigates the consequences of environmental changes in Somalia.
She believes telling a story can deepen empathy and inspire people to be more conscious. She’s also a contributor to Everyday Africa, which attempts to showcase missing moments from the news. It’s a collection of smartphone photos of the everyday life of Africans.
Nichole Sobecki: Website | Instagram
Antonio Busiello is an Italian photographer. He is known for focusing on the relationship between humans and the natural world surrounding them. While studying anthropology, his interest in cultural differences deepened.
He has worked and lived in different countries around the world. And his images have won him prestigious awards, like the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
You can find his work in numerous magazines. And his numerous photo essays combine his interest in humankind and the natural world. His work was also chosen to be exhibited at the CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year Exhibition.
Antonio Busiello: Website | Instagram
Matilde Gattoni is a French-Italian photographer based in Barcelona. Her work raises global awareness of social, environmental, and human rights issues.
She mostly covers stories from Asia and Africa. And her topics are diverse. They include mass migrations, illegal mining, droughts, and climate change.
Her stories have been published in more than a hundred magazines all around the globe. She received several awards, and her work has been exhibited worldwide.
Matilde and journalist Matteo Fagotto founded Tandem Reportages. It is an agency that produces independent stories. They focus on contemporary issues like the relationship between humans and our environment.
Matilde Gattoni: Website | Instagram
Environmental photographers give us the most accurate picture of the state of the world. Whether they focus on African wildlife or arctic ice, they know better than anyone how much our world is changing. And they’ll be the first to tell us it is not changing for the better.
There’s nothing stopping you from becoming an environmental photographer. You don’t need fancy equipment or a big budget, nor do you need to travel to the polar regions.
Look at the environment close to you. The effects of climate breakdown are being felt everywhere, so start small and tell personal stories about your area.
We hope these incredible environmental photographers have inspired you to pick up a camera or a placard. The environment needs all the allies it can get, so there’s no time to waste.
