Three environmentalists from Vancouver Island are collaborating with top wildlife photographers from across the world in an effort to further ocean conservation.
100 For the Ocean was conceived by Nanaimo’s Chase Teron and Nanoose Bay couple Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier, who aligned 100 photographers from more than 15 countries to participate in the project. The unique images are available for sale online until May 31, with 100 per cent of the net proceeds going to ocean conservation.
Teron said they are hoping to raise $1 million by month’s end through 100fortheocean.com. “Anything that we raise is a bonus for the ocean. But we want to get people talking about the ocean and talking about the challenges.”
Teron, Nicklen and Mittermeier and six other photographers from the Vancouver Island area — Mark Williams, Taylor Burk, Marcelo Johan Ogata, David duChemin, Jenni Teron, and Kris Gillies — contributed images. Prices start at $100 US, which is “a fraction of what someone would normally have to pay” to acquire an image from some of the photographers ivolved, Teron said.
Though its roots are on Vancouver Island, the creators of the project have international profiles. Mittermeier and Nicklen (whose image of a glacier in Antarctica became the cover to Pearl Jam’s 2020 album, Gigaton) and are considered top creators in their field, with a combined nine million followers on their individual Instagram accounts.
100 For the Ocean was curated by Kathy Moran, the former deputy director of photography for National Geographic, with whom organizers have worked in the past. She compiled the images by the participants, which include Steve McCurry, whose acclaimed Afghan Girl portrait is among the most recognizable photos in the world; Academy Award winner Jimmy Chin, who co-directed the documentary Free Solo; and Jodi Cobb, a former White House photographer of the year.
Conservationism starts at home, Teron said, so community was the unifying theme, despite images with subjects ranging from wildlife to landscapes. “We wanted a campaign that has a really strong community feel. Photographers and artists are paradoxes, who have individual success and pursuits but crave community. That is sometimes lacking in this world, so that was our focus.”
Mittermeier and Nicklen co-founded SeaLegacy, a non-profit foundation working to protect the world’s oceans, through which proceeds from the sale will be disbursed to other ocean conservation organizations.
