6 of 18Attribution: Dustin Patar
A dog team is pictured racing through pools of water that have formed on top of melting sea ice during an evening run outside of Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, in June 2022. Typically, from late December until June, much of the water in this area is frozen. But as temperatures rise, the snow covering the ice melts, creating large pools of water that reveal the turquoise-blue ice beneath it.
Elena Diadenko is an artist, an animal lover, a teacher and a native of Ukraine. A resident of Chicago for more than 30 years, Diadenko uses her talents to teach a traditional form of folk art and raise awareness about the ongoing war in the country where she was born.
In March of last year, Diadenko sold her artwork at the Ukrainian National Museum to benefit the Red Cross in Ukraine — ultimately raising nearly $50,000.
Many works were painted on glass.
Now the artist, a Golden Apple Award-winning teacher, is giving lessons on how to make this traditional form of folk art that first flourished in the 16th century.
“It is a cultural tradition,” Diadenko said. “Basically self-taught artists started to paint on glass in reverse, and the scenes were mostly from the Bible, so you can see a lot of Virgin Marys, icons and saints.”
“A few 100 years later,” Diadenko continued, “a lot of self-taught artists who lived in different villages started to paint on glass in reverse, but their scenes were mostly village scenes, so they would draw peasants, animals, fields and flowers. It was a primitive style of painting, but it looked very nice, very authentic, very bright, and always with a black outline.”
Diadenko still raises money for the war effort, and she has a new cause. Her friend — a parish priest near Kyiv — has been caring for the many animals displaced by the Russian invasion.
“He start picking them up from Eastern regions and start feeding them and giving them medical treatments with his friend, a veterinarian,” Diadenko said. “I asked him, ‘How many cats and dogs did you save?’ I say, ‘100, 200, over 200?’ He told me, ‘After 200, we stopped counting because we were just saving them and saving them.’”
To benefit the animal shelter, she now leads classes on how to make paintings using glass as a canvas.
“My first class had about 23 people,” Diadenko said. “I had a dentist, a journalist, teachers, an accountant — and some of them had no idea how to paint. I told them not to worry. I have a lot of sketches of my own that I gave them because I’m really careful about copyright issues.”
“I’m doing this because I just cannot not do it,” Diadenko continued. “I have to do it to stay sane. It helps me because I feel, like, what’s the point to cry? You have to pull yourself together and think what you can do to help, like a soldier. That’s how I see it.”
Diadenko will teach again at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art on July 21. Classes cost $60 and benefit veterans of the Ukraine War and displaced animals and pets.
Diadenko can be reached at [email protected].
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2023 / Wildlife Habitat Council
Originally published on wildlifehc.org
We’ve all heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Science has even backed up the powerful impact of imagery, with research showing that people tend to remember ideas presented in pictures better than in words.
Professionals who work in sustainability often find themselves needing to make the case for conservation. Whether that’s championing an effort like composting waste scraps from the campus cafeteria, securing funds to plant a pollinator garden on-site or informing community members about a local threatened species, convincing the stakeholders involved in these decisions requires using all the tools available – and that’s where conservation photography comes in.
Like all forms of photography, conservation photography tells a story, often about the beauty and majesty of nature as well as the factors that threaten species’ or ecosystems’ survival. When it comes to getting buy-in from key decisionmakers, educating students or just inspiring the general public, conservation photography is a powerful way to demonstrate the far-reaching impact of conservation work. This blog will explore how corporate conservation professionals (or anyone!) can use photography to support their conservation goals.
Bring wildlife close to home
Photography literally provides a close-up look at species or environments that people might not encounter otherwise. It can be easy to focus only on the animals or plants we see every day, which means it can also be easy to forget about those that exist half a world away. Conservation photography is a helpful reminder of the sheer diversity of life on earth. It also provides perspective, serving as a reminder that even the ecosystems and species found at one’s own workplace or in the backyard are just as valuable as those in exotic locales.
Tell a story
Like all artforms, conservation photography is storytelling at its core. Neuroscience confirms that stories impact the brain’s neurons, making them fire similarly to the person telling the story and creating a bond between the storyteller and the audience. This even leads to the release of dopamine, a feel-good chemical that helps people recall the story later. Using still images or video to illustrate the needs and experiences of a particular species reaches audiences on a visual, intellectual and emotional level.
Wildlife filmmaker and WHC Board member Chris Morgan is no stranger to the power of storytelling. Through his documentary projects like BEARTREK and Path of The Bear, Morgan’s own story and the stories of biologists and conservationists coincides with the bear species he is documenting. BEARTREK, for example, charts Morgan’s seven-year journey across three continents to understand the conservation efforts protecting species like the spectacled bear, polar bear and sun bear. By weaving human stories into the stories of rare species, conservation photographers and filmmakers build a strong bond with their audience.
Contribute to scientific research
Conservation photography provides visual data, especially when it comes to rare species. In addition to observing what a specific plant or animal looks like, photographers are incidentally also identifying its abundance, location, condition and behavior, which are all important data for understanding a population. Contributing to citizen or community science efforts allows anyone to be part of the study of a particular ecosystem or species. Amateur and professional photographers alike can submit photos and other data to initiatives like NestWatch, iNaturalist and other community science programs in order to contribute to the widespread understanding of a species.
Demonstrate a change over time
Nature is fluid, constantly evolving and adapting. Conservation photography illustrates both the harmful and beneficial changes that have occurred in an environment over time. Taking a photo of the same location at different times throughout the year – also called photo point monitoring – can show the effects of industrialization or habitat degradation; however, these repeat photographs can also showcase the positive effects of conservation efforts, from grassland restoration to the return of a species that had previously lost its habitat.
Get employees involved
One way to encourage conservation photography as well as employee engagement is through contests. Employee photography contests showcase the on-site biodiversity to a company’s entire employee base, explained Ann George, Senior Scientist at WHC member mining company Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), which has held an employee contest for over 10 years. “When people think of a mining company, they don’t think of wildlife,” George said, so a photography contest is a great way to educate employees and the broader community about how a company is managing and preserving biodiversity.
FCX develops a specific set of criteria for entries, including the exclusion of any invasive or ornamental species. The company’s biodiversity task force reviews the entries, of which they receive 400-500 each year, and the top choices are submitted to WHC’s annual calendar, printed and hung in the corporate office and showcased on computer lock screens across the company.
WHC member CEMEX also holds a photography contest for employees. “CEMEX’s ‘Nature Positive’ photo contest has helped us to connect with our employees around their positive experiences with nature on our sites, while demonstrating the important role that industry can play in halting and reversing biodiversity loss,” explained Jerae Carlson, Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Communications & Public Affairs at CEMEX USA. Not only does the contest raise awareness about on-site wildlife, but it also creates connections between coworkers. “Employees are often eager to share their positive experiences with nature and to see nature through the lens of their colleagues.”
For companies thinking about starting a photography contest, Carlson and George provided some tips. “Make it easy for everyone to participate,” said Carlson. CEMEX developed several submission options for employees, including a specific email address as well as a QR code that allowed employees without a company email to submit photos from their phones. Promoting the contest is also key: George recommended publicizing the contest thoroughly to employees and marketing it as an opportunity to hone photography skills while learning more about the company’s biodiversity projects.
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to have a positive impact on conservation with your photos. Armed with a smartphone, a keen sense of observation and a little bit of patience, anyone can capture moments in nature that support greater conservation goals.
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Wildlife Habitat Council on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Wildlife Habitat Council
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/wildlife-habitat-council
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE: Wildlife Habitat Council
