Aaron Sheppard

I am a photographer from Toronto, Canada living in Tokyo. I practice photography while studying environmental science in university. Environment is a major theme in my photography. My website presents these projects where bias, framing, and nature are linked to the message.

“Wildlife photographers are becoming self-proclaimed guardians of species and nature in the present epoch of endangered species and the retreat of the wilderness.”¹
-Hendrik Neubauer, Black Star: 60 Years of Photojournalism.

While author Hendrick Neubauer is mostly positive of his contemporary environmental photojournalists, he also perceives a hypocrisy among those activist photographers. They espouse altruistic purposes in their work yet contribute to the degradation of the environments they photograph. They claim a social benefit in education, and inspiration, while inflating their own ego, prevalence and possibly their wallets in the process.

Consistent with this stereotype, I take both conflicting benefits from my photography. I gain fulfillment: My perception of helping some greater good stems from interacting with real issues. Keep in mind the nebulosity of environmental impacts allows me to keep this fulfilment regardless of whether I actually help anything or anyone. Meanwhile, I gain enjoyment: Besides the fun of taking a picture, I love nature, am interested by the challenges of conservation, and enjoy being in the locations where those challenges are tackled. This is the context in which I engage environmentalism. I am incentivized while appealing to the concept of ‘good’. So hopefully there is a synchronization of interests.

The hypocrisy that Neubauer identifies rings true. My productions are to some degree disingenuous. I hope the magnitude of this degree justifies at the most critical reception and a preparation to cancel further publications when it appears that I harm more than I heal.

Notes

1. Hendrik Neubauer, Black Star: 60 Years of Photojournalism, trans. Adri van der Colff and Philip Jenkins (New York: Könemann, 1997), 311.

Acknowledgements

Photo credit, Left: Akihiro Konno.