WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANET? WHAT CAN WE DO TO SAFEGUARD IT?

ARTISTS CANNOT ABSTAIN FROM FOSTERING A VITAL CULTURAL CHANGE. THESE EVOCATIVE IMAGES BY THE CREATIVE TALENTS OF PHOTOVOGUE INVITE US TO REFLECT ON OUR RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS THE EARTH.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS. The relationship between humans and nature through the eyes of the PhotoVogue community.

The photographs on this page speak of fear, beauty and trust. Fear is what we feel when we stop to think about the disastrous consequences of human activity on the environment. Beauty is what we rediscover when we contemplate the wonder of nature, which puts us at ease with our own mortality. And trust is what swells within us when we look with hopeful eyes at examples of sustainability that can produce change, portrayed with an abstract and poetic gaze. These images were conceived by the photographers of PhotoVogue, the community of Vogue.it. Comprising about 170,000 creatives from around the world, they engage in a dialogue about the expressive potential offered by the medium of photography, and how it can be harnessed to convey their artistic visions. Through their photos, they also prompt a reflection on the pressing issues of today, such as the representation and reception of diversity and the health of the planet. According to scientists, the world’s climatic equilibriums are changing at an alarming rate due to global warming. We have entered a new geological age, the Anthropocene, in which human life itself is threatened. Faced with this environmental crisis, artists – like politicians and citizens – cannot abstain from fostering a vital cultural change to safeguard the future of the new generations. As the young activist Greta Thunberg asserted at COP24, the UN Climate Change Conference held in early December in Katowice, Poland: “In the year 2078, I will celebrate my 75th birthday. If I have children, maybe they will spend that day with me. Maybe they will ask me about you. Maybe they will ask why you didn’t do anything while there was still time to act.” •