![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/\u00a9-Garth-Lenz-Wildlife-Photographer-of-the-Year-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Lenz has developed a particular focus on resource extraction for his photography. Pointing his camera both across the globe and closer to home, Lenz looks for more than documentation\u2014he\u2019s also interested in the fleeting moments of beauty to be found in our destruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very interested\u2014both in the editorial and aesthetic sense\u2014with large-scale extractive industries. You know, first with clear-cut logging, not just here, but all over the US and in Chile, and Ecuador,\u201d he says. \u201cMy first visit to the tar sands, which I\u2019ve made a number of repeated visits to, it\u2019s probably the body of work that I\u2019m best known for. That just fascinated me with the ability to make powerful and surreal\u2026 beautiful images of disturbing subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the elegance of the composition, Lenz is keenly aware of the high cost of these practices and is a passionate advocate for the planet\u2019s environmental protection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe image is really about trying to show it in the context of what\u2019s been lost,\u201d he says. \u201cI have oftentimes wanted to show the enormity of the devastation and our best opportunities to preserve large, intact chunks of wilderness.\u201d<\/p>\n Lenz doesn\u2019t see this as a black-and-white issue with a clear resolution, though. One of the ideas Lenz consistently explores in his work is that of our personal relationships with these devastating industries.<\/p>\n \u201cMining is certainly one of the most destructive exploited industries\u2026 It\u2019s complicated because we\u2019re all using this stuff, you know, my phone, your phone, the coffee mugs we\u2019re drinking out of, solar panels, electric cars, all are minerals that are only gotten from digging up the earth,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can\u2019t just want to say, \u2018Oh, this is a horrible person here digging up the oil that I\u2019m using in the gasoline in my car, or to fly on my next vacation.\u2019 You know, we have to take responsibility, as well. We\u2019re all part of the problem, and we all need to be part of the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n To aspiring photographers, Lenz encourages boldness. He says that people need to do what they\u2019re passionate about, because there may not be rewards for quite a while.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the easy path to supporting yourself… and I think photography, especially this kind of photography, is increasingly difficult to earn a living in. But if you wouldn\u2019t be happy doing anything else, then throw yourself into it and give it your best shot,\u201d he says. \u201cReach out. You know, you\u2019ll be surprised how open people are that you might see in some magazine or whatever. Send them an email\u2026 You know, most of us are pretty nice. And most of us have been in that position before and someone was nice to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Lenz urges photographers and environmental defenders alike to embrace nuance and fight for what they believe in.<\/p>\n \u201cFollow your passion,\u201d he says. \u201cWork hard.\u201d<\/p>\n