Latest news with #Mittermeier
National Post
29-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- National Post
Vancouver Island photographer works to save wildlife, one photo at a time
Article content The platform has led Mittermeier to a few select partnerships, including with Rolex, for which she's an ambassador. Mittermeier works with the luxury Swiss watch brand on its Perpetual Planet Initiative that supports and champions explorers, scientists and entrepreneurs. Article content 'They have empowered me and elevated me in such important ways without ever asking me to do anything in return, which is exactly what a brand should be doing when you care about a cause,' Mittermeier says. Article content View this post on Instagram A post shared by ROLEX (@rolex) Article content Article content First drawn to the field of conservation while studying marine biology in her native Mexico, she became keenly aware of the many issues threatening our oceans. Article content 'Back then, we were talking about climate change, acidification and industrial fishing as the biggest threat. So I wanted to find a way that I could contribute to raise awareness and protect the ocean, and I didn't know how to do it,' Mittermeier says. 'So I started out as a scientist, and my first job ever was for Conservation International. I became a conservationist, and I've been doing that ever since.' Article content Her journey eventually brought her to Canada after she met Nicklen. Happily settled on Vancouver Island, Mittermeier says we're at a crucial time in the country's nature conservation story. Article content 'As Alaska is looking at culling the populations of grizzly bears and wolves, we have an opportunity in British Columbia to protect ours and to make them even more special than they already are,' Mittermeier explains. 'Our neighbours to the south are threatening with logging because they have their own lumber. It gives us an opportunity to even cherish our forests so much more …' Article content Article content 'And I think Canada is going to emerge as a superpower because of our environmental leadership.' Article content Article content While we wait to see how shifting political climates face the environmental crises, Mittermeier says there are a few things people can do. Article content 'The one thing that we all can do, and it has to be a personal choice that you make every day, is, No. 1, to stay hopeful and to know that the pendulum will swing and our time will come again,' Mittermeier says. 'And the second is to stay engaged. There's such a temptation to just turn the other way and not pay attention, and say things like, 'I'm not political. I don't care about that.' Article content Article content Article content Article content
Vancouver Sun
29-05-2025
- General
- Vancouver Sun
Vancouver Island photographer works to save wildlife, one photo at a time
Cristina Mittermeier's photographs don't just give you pause. They stop you in your tracks. The Vancouver Island-based conservation photographer is part of a group of social media-savvy nature shooters who capture images of animals — via land, sea and air. Mittermeier's Instagram account @mitty , which has more than 1.6 million followers, provides a personal stream of photos and videos she's taken around the world. She pairs the arresting imagery with information such as animal behaviour and insight, and perils facing the species. The content is about much more than capturing a pretty picture for the awe and inspiration of others. And it's definitely not about the 'likes.' It's an effort to provide an access point to nature in the hopes it will prompt people to want to protect it. Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'It has to be a conversation that humans have every day,' Mittermeier says. A pioneer of the conservation photography movement along with her husband, fellow National Geographic photographer and Order of Canada recipient Paul Nicklen, Mittermeier's overarching goal is to help fill a void in understanding about humans' role in the world. 'Children these days have no clue how our planet works and how the systems around us are what keeps us alive,' Mittermeier says, pointing to 'eroded' education as a possible cause. 'We have, in Western education, a very individualistic, highly exceptional idea of humans as the top of the pyramid. 'And we forget that we are part of a much larger system with many, many other creatures out there that play equally important roles.' A post shared by UN Biodiversity (@unbiodiversity) Speaking from her home in Nanoose Bay — Mittermeier refers to Vancouver Island, where she's lived for about 15 years an 'absolute paradise.' She's also using her platform and imagery to combat misinformation and AI. 'There was a time when social media first came onstage, in 2012 there about when I joined Instagram, where it was so accessible. There was no algorithm throttling us or monitoring the words we used to communicate. And you truly could have a conversation with people from around the world. It was a glorious thing,' Mittermeier says. 'I felt so hopeful at that time that we could actually reach people in an honest communication.' But money and tech companies have strangled that freedom, she says. 'Having media, whether it's traditional media or social media, owned by corporations and especially by billionaires, is really dangerous, because it really skews the way we understand each other and the way we understand the world,' she says. Social media has become less a place of connection these days, Mittermeier says, and more like the 'yellow news' outlets she grew up seeing in her native Mexico. 'There was such bottom-of-the-barrel news to get people's attention. And that's how it feels like with social media, a lot of AI-generated stuff that, of course, is fake and not true. And a lot of scandalous stuff that is not true,' she explains. 'And you have to compete with that.' Credibility, she says, is key. Mittermeier and Nicklen are part of an initiative among nature conservation photographers to keep their work out of the AI training pool that big tech companies like Meta and Google use to inform and shape the understanding of AI bots. 'It's an avalanche of AI. It's an assault,' Mittermeier says. 'Somebody asked an AI generator to create an image of a salmon run, which, for all of us here in British Columbia, is something that's so clear in my mind. You know what the AI bot came up with? Sure enough, it's a stream, but it's a bunch of filets of salmon, you know, going up it.' A post shared by SeaLegacy (@sealegacy) Mittermeier urges people to scroll through social media with a critical gaze, checking facts and searching out sources before assuming something to be true. 'Whenever possible, follow the source all the way to its roots,' she says. 'It's very difficult when you're scrolling and seeing these things come up, and there's a lot of opinion from people who are not qualified. Ignore them.' The longtime nature conservationist suggests searching for sources of information from more than one place, including from the opposing side of the issue. 'I f you can stomach it, whether you are from the left or the right, look at what the other side is saying, just to contrast and understand — even though it's so hard,' Mittermeier says. As part of her goal to present accurate information and imagery of the natural world, Mittermeier and Nicklen created the non-profit SeaLegacy in 2014. 'We wanted to empower other organizations through our storytelling and our audience to have their stories seen by the world,' she explains. 'And that's what we've been doing for the last 10 to 11, years, trying to point our cameras to the heroes in the frontline, to the issues that they're trying to solve and to the solutions out there.' The platform has led Mittermeier to a few select partnerships, including with Rolex, for which she's an ambassador. Mittermeier works with the luxury Swiss watch brand on its Perpetual Planet Initiative that supports and champions explorers, scientists and entrepreneurs. 'They have empowered me and elevated me in such important ways without ever asking me to do anything in return, which is exactly what a brand should be doing when you care about a cause,' Mittermeier says. A post shared by ROLEX (@rolex) First drawn to the field of conservation while studying marine biology in her native Mexico, she became keenly aware of the many issues threatening our oceans. 'Back then, we were talking about climate change, acidification and industrial fishing as the biggest threat. So I wanted to find a way that I could contribute to raise awareness and protect the ocean, and I didn't know how to do it,' Mittermeier says. 'So I started out as a scientist, and my first job ever was for Conservation International. I became a conservationist, and I've been doing that ever since.' Her journey eventually brought her to Canada after she met Nicklen. Happily settled on Vancouver Island, Mittermeier says we're at a crucial time in the country's nature conservation story. 'As Alaska is looking at culling the populations of grizzly bears and wolves, we have an opportunity in British Columbia to protect ours and to make them even more special than they already are,' Mittermeier explains. 'Our neighbours to the south are threatening with logging because they have their own lumber. It gives us an opportunity to even cherish our forests so much more …' 'And I think Canada is going to emerge as a superpower because of our environmental leadership.' While we wait to see how shifting political climates face the environmental crises, Mittermeier says there are a few things people can do. 'The one thing that we all can do, and it has to be a personal choice that you make every day, is, No. 1, to stay hopeful and to know that the pendulum will swing and our time will come again,' Mittermeier says. 'And the second is to stay engaged. There's such a temptation to just turn the other way and not pay attention, and say things like, 'I'm not political. I don't care about that.' 'You have to care, because the power of the people is greater than the people in power. If we all participate, the power of advocacy is massive. If we all use our voice.' Aharris@
