What was the initial spark that made you realize that you had to create this photography exhibition?
Sebastião Salgado is a very famous photographer from Brazil. He’s fully committed to the environment. I’ve seen many photo exhibitions from him before, and I have been dreaming about it since then. Part of my mission is to clearly show and share what I do, so I see the image as a tool to achieve it.
How does the exhibition comment on political and social issues?
We just lived through the climate summit in Glasgow. For me, there are four basic pillars to work on sustainability. The first one is education. The second one is the law, particularly the legislation, the power of the government to make laws so they can punish the behaviors that are not sustainable and in the same way that they reward good actions. The third pillar is innovation, which is achieved through creativity. And the last one is the Green Fund, the financial power. It’s very important to have responsible consumption, nowadays we consume fast and replace materials quickly.
I am sure you must have come face to face with the terrible consequences of human actions when you were traveling. Are you still hopeful that we can save the environment?
Planet Earth has been here for millions of years and it will keep on being here for many, many years with or without us. Nature is a very complex system. We are just a simple, a very little part of that system. So, we need nature, but nature doesn’t need us. The planet and nature will survive, it’s our species that might not. Change your daily life, your habits, then you will find more people doing the same changes. Yes, sometimes it is a little bit hopeless, but we have the power to build the future we want to see.
What would you suggest our students be thinking of and questioning when they are visiting your photography exhibition?
Well, firstly wondering if they’ve practised sustainable habits throughout the day: sometimes we love talking and sharing ideas and we act like we will solve all the problems of the world. But then all those things must be translated into actions. I’d like them to ask themselves “what kind of initiatives and what things are we doing?” I mean, in their daily lives, what projects, what dreams, what startups are they dreaming of to change the world? I guess I encourage everyone to change the world and to do things for a better planet.
We would like to thank Ignacio Dean, known professionally as Nacho Dean, for this interview and for sharing his breathtaking insight on how an individual can do better for the environment. Don’t forget to visit his spectacular exhibit, available until December 11th.
