A YEAR LONG PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF ALASKA FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION & CULTURAL PRESERVATION
Join as I embark on a journey across Alaska to photograph a vanishing land.
The Great Alaska Project is a year long documentary and fine art photography project undertaken to create a visual record of Alaska at a critical moment of its ecological and cultural history. Over the next year, I will be venturing through the vast state while photographing the landscape, wildlife, and people.
My mission is the creation of a museum quality exhibition, a large format book, and a public digital archive for educational & research purposes that will underscore the need to protect a remote corner of our world.
“Inspired by the beauty I witnessed while photographing in Africa and across the American West, I am now committed to capturing the magnificence of Alaska. The recent decision to permit oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, alongside the accelerating effects of climate change, has underscored the urgency and importance of this project for conservation and education.”
PRESERVING THE ARCTIC
Climate change strikes Alaska faster than the rest of the country due to the Arctic amplification effect. Glaciers are receding, permafrost melting, and changing conditions threaten animal habitats. Rising seas are already forcing Indigenous people from their ancestral homes.
Recently, the government announced plans to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, despite the decades of work to preserve this last jewel of pristine wilderness. All of which makes the photographic documentation I am planning not just artistically significant, but ecologically urgent.
I invite you to join me in my efforts to preserve our great northern frontier by supporting this project and taking action in your community.
THE JOURNEY
The project will be carried out over four fieldwork phases each lasting 4 to 6 weeks in Alaska. This is designed to capture the full cycle of the Alaskan seasons as well as provide the time to gain familiarity & build trust in remote/Indigenous communities.
By bush plane, dirt road & ferry, I will be traveling to some of the most remote areas of the country. The subjects will include the Inuit communities of the Inupiat and the Gwich’In people whose culture is tied to the caribou of the North Slope, the fisheries of Bristol Bay, the glaciers of the Inside Passage, and the great one, Denali.
SUPPORT THE PROJECT
Your contributions will support the project from concept to fieldwork in Alaska and the showcasing of the work as an exhibit, a digital educational tool, and a monograph. Donations will be used towards the production of this project, including travel expenses, wilderness guides & Indigenous consultants, and operational expenses.
Regular dispatches from the field will keep supporters of the project up to date with stories & images from Alaska. For full details of the project, including the budget, please email klein@joshuatreestudio.com.
ONE TIME or MONTHLY contributions can be made through link above. Monthly contributions .
If you are interested in further sponsoring the project, please inquire at klein@joshuatreestudio.com