Tag:wetlands
Quite a shocking piece of news fell into my inbox this morning, via the Mangrove Action Project newsletter which I receive every month. The news is a couple of weeks old but it seems that on November 15th, there was an explosion in a hotel in the Mexican resort of Playa del Carmen that tragically killed seven people. The cause, it has been speculated is most likely, is not a bomb but mangroves! As many readers of this blog will […]
[slideshare id=5869543&doc=ucca-101123001230-phpapp01] <<Return to the Learning Zone Last weekend, I was invited by Beijing based eco-group Greening the Beige to give a workshop at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. We had a great turnout, with many students and photography enthusiasts all keen to see images from my environmental work in China over the past few years and learn about some of the thought processes that go into tackling these realtively large issues. We had such a great discussion, so I […]
[vimeo width=”570″ height=”320″]https://vimeo.com/15090041[/vimeo] I’m happy to announce that my new multimedia piece for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is now online. ‘The Chinese Alligator: Species on the Brink” is a look at the plight of China’s only crocodilian species and the effects of decades of wetlands reclamation on population numbers. By combining stills, video, interviews and time-lapse photography I hope this piece provides a visually interesting account of the current situation, as well as an informative one. This is the […]
SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, QINGHAI PROVINCE, CHINA Tenzin’s green eyes bored into me as I looked at his sunburnt face. “Qinghai Lake is a very holy place for us. We regard it as the ‘soul’ of Qinghai.” He was sitting by the side of a road running parallel to the lake shore. The sound of cars rushing past filled the air as Tenzin’s kneepads, torn and grazed, fluttered in the wind generated just a meter or two away. […]
SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, ANHUI PROVINCE, CHINA When I discovered in my research that China had its own crocodilian, I was excited to try to find an opportunity to photograph it. What I was not prepared for was to learn that the species is perilously near extinction. “In the past few centuries, the number of Yangtze alligator[s] has dropped dramatically”, explained Xie Yan, a quiet and unassuming woman who is the current director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s […]
SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, ANHUI PROVINCE, CHINA This week I travel to the province of Anhui, situated in the Yangtze River basin west of Shanghai. I travel to this region to begin the chapter of my work on the effects of wetland disappearance on animal species in China. As way of introduction to this chapter, I recently interviewed Joe Abene, a long-time alligator researcher who worked for the Bronx Zoo in New York for many years and is […]
“Green Hills Soothe My Eyes, Running Water Tranquilizes My Mind,” announced the sign to my left as I entered the Xixi Wetland park in Hangzhou. “Only One Future for Our Children – Development Without Destruction,” proclaimed a second sign just a few meters ahead on my right. “Your Planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change,” a third sign almost screamed to me as I turned the next bend. If nothing else, these signs were saying all the right […]