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Igor Shpilenok An environmental activist and founder of the Bryansky Les Nature Reserve, Igor travels across Russia documenting its wild places. The camera is Igor's most powerful and faithful companion in the struggle to protect the Russian wilderness - an integral part of the global ecological balance.Wielding his camera and his photographs, Igor pushed for creation of a nature reserve to protect disappearing nesting habitat of the rare black stork, a bird he first discovered in the region as a teen. In 1987, as a result of his efforts, the Bryansky Les Zapovednik (strict nature reserve) was created, granting protection to floodplain and forest habitats and more than a dozen black stork nests. He became the reserve’s first director at the age of 27, making him the youngest and only non-Communist director in the entire zapovednik system at the time. During the 11 years he managed the reserve, he and his colleagues were able to guarantee protection for another 12 nature refuges. In all, Igor played a key role in withdrawing 20 percent of the Bryansk Forest from economic exploitation. The years have healed the wounds inflicted on the forest and wildflowers bloom on Igor’s meadow once again. |
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Cristina Mittermeier
For Cristina, photography did not come as a first career choice. She was trained as a marine biologist and through the years became a biodiversity conservation consultant. The need to pick up a camera came after she had already published a number of scientific papers dealing with the loss of biodiversity and human cultures and she found herself short of words to express her emotional connection to the issues in which she was involved. |
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Pete OxfordPete Oxford, a British biologist, has lived in Ecuador, South America for the last 21 years. With his South African wife and photographic partner Reneé Bish he has traveled extensively on all continents photographing wildlife and wilderness areas. His images have appeared in National Geographic, International Wildlife, Smithsonian, Geo, BBC Wildlife and Nature's Best among others. He has published six books on Ecuadorian, mostly conservation orientated, subjects with a seventh book on Mongolia in publication. He is on the board of directors of Eco Ecuador which operates the only ecotourist lodge in Ecuador's Yasuni National Park - a true community ecotourism venture working with the Añangu community who are 49% owners. He firmly |
Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier is one of conservation photography’s newest proponents. Her work focuses on the delicate relationship between nature’s most spectacular and endangered wildlife and Earth’s vanishing traditional human cultures. This unique view of people and nature lies at the heart of her work and is the key to understanding why her images are so poignant and beautiful. Her ultimate mission is to reconnect people’s lives to nature through the use of photography.