Q&A WITH GRAEME GREEN, BRITISH WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER AND FOUNDER OF THE NEW BIG 5 PROJECT

After nine months of toil and passion, Graeme’s project has finally been launched. Where did the idea come from and where is it headed next?

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL WORK AND APPROACH TO WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY.

I’ve been travelling the world with cameras and a notepad for about 15 years. I don’t just cover wildlife, but also landscapes, people, cultures and global issues.

With my wildlife photos, I want to do justice to how incredible the creatures we share the planet with are: not just lions and gorillas, but tiny lizards, frogs, colourful birds…

I work for a lot of magazines and newspapers, so photos need to tell a story or communicate something. But it’s also important to push my creativity. I’m looking for something unique, which might be the character of an animal, interesting behaviour, or a moment of drama, humour or tenderness. I want an emotional response. I want people to care about the pictures and animals.

Conservation issues have been part of my wildlife photography for years, but seeing the threats currently facing the world’s wildlife, it’s become increasingly important to me. I hope to make it more central to my work.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE THE NEW BIG 5?

I had the idea years ago, on assignment in Botswana. It felt to me like something that should exist. A Big 5 based on the animals hunters used to kill felt totally meaningless today – especially when so many people, like me, think it’s crazy to want to kill and cause suffering to animals, whereas photography is more popular and relevant to people than ever. So you’ve got the old Big 5, which is about death, and the New Big 5, which is about life.

Photos are a brilliant way to celebrate the world’s wildlife, but they’re also a powerful tool to raise awareness. I wanted to take the idea of a New Big 5 of wildlife photography and turn it into a force for good, to hopefully highlight the need to protect the world’s animals.

THE PROJECT MUST HAVE BEEN A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING. DID YOU HAVE ANY HELP GETTING IT OFF THE GROUND?

A good friend of mine helped build the website. Other than that, I’ve done most of the work myself: bringing the photographers and charities on board, recording the podcasts, writing articles and interviews. It’s been nine months of incredibly hard work, long days, late nights, working through weekends, all without any funding at all. So it’s been tough-going.

HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ORGANISATIONS THAT ARE NOW INVOLVED?

It took a lot of time. One thing that was really important to me, and that I’m really proud of, is that it really is a global project. There are photographers not just from the UK and the US, but from Mexico, Lebanon, Kenya, China, France, Australia, South Africa, Peru… it took a lot of work to find and talk to all those photographers, but the project’s better for it.

Once I managed to reach people, though, it wasn’t too difficult to get them on board. The idea behind the project is so simple. Most photographers are passionate about wildlife and want to see these animals protected, so they were happy to help.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM THE NEW BIG 5?

The main message is just how serious the situation is for many of the world’s animals. I think a lot of people are kind of aware that there are some issues but maybe don’t know that we stand to lose so many of the world’s animals if we don’t act now. Ethiopian wolves are down to less than 500. Cheetahs are down to just 7,100. Lions have dropped from 200,000 to 20,000 in just 50 years. Elephants, rhinos and tigers are still being slaughtered for their tusks, horns and skins. Pangolins are being wiped out for traditional “medicine” in Asia. Orangutans are losing their habitat.

I don’t want to live in a world where elephants, lions, cheetahs, orangutans and giraffes have been wiped out. And the project isn’t just about the big iconic animals, but all wildlife, including lesser known creatures. We stand to lose species of frog, bird, fish, bat, lizard – all these are far too valuable to lose. We need them for ourselves and for the planet.

The other message is that change is possible. We can solve these problems and stop these animals from disappearing.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE PROJECT, AND FOR YOU?

We’re going to run the project for six months, before announcing the results later this year. From there, I’ve got ideas for next steps, but I need to keep them under wraps for now. I’d also like to run future projects focusing on birds, on marine life, and on the UK’s wildlife.

I’ve learned so much from working on the project. I’ve had nine months of thinking about photography and talking to some of the world’s best photographer, and I’d like to start putting those ideas into action. And I’ve got a load of ideas for stories I’d like to work on.