CHICAGO — They’re photos from around the world, of the world and its creatures, great and small.
“I want to paint the dream,” said Christina Mittermeier, a conservation photographer. “I want to show what we can aspire to if we do the work on protecting our planet … And protecting nature.”
On top of being a photographer, Mittermeier is also a marine biologist who’s photos she says serve that purpose — To inspire others to protect this planet.
“Our planet is truly magical, we live on this tiny sphere that’s traveling across the universe and its carrying us like a spaceship with everything we need but we don’t know how it works,” Mittermeier said. “And the engine is in nature. We need to protect it.”
She and her partner, Paul Nicklen, have published thousands of images of wildlife and of the people with whom we share this planet.
Many of them have ended up in National Geographic.
Among recent work from the two is a non-profit working to save the seas, named Sea Legacy. Saturday, Sea Legacy hosted an exhibition in Chicago of their work in two separate galleries — One in River North, and the other in Bridgeport.
“I feel an incredible urgency to call attention to protecting nature as our ally in our solution for climate change,” Mittermeier said. “Also, we’re losing so much biodiversity and we’re a little oblivious about it. These things are irreplaceable — Things like coral reefs. So, I just want to make sure that we’re paying attention.”
The exhibition at the Hilton Contemporary Gallery in River North runs through the end of August.