395: Chris Wright - Photography for a Better World

In this episode of F-Stop Collaborate and Listen, host Matt Payne interviews Chris Wright, an academic and photographer dedicated to documenting the environmental impacts of climate change. Wright's key project focuses on coal ash waste sites near Lake Macquarie, using drone photography to highlight the "toxic sublime"—stunning yet harmful landscapes. Wright delves into the significant health risks posed by these sites, shares insights from his broader photography work on fossil fuel addiction, and discusses his academic research on corporate and governmental responses to climate change. Emphasizing the importance of visual storytelling, Wright also touches on the challenges photographers face in bringing environmental issues to light, while advocating for a deeper interconnection between photography and conservation efforts.

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Resources Mentioned:

1. Support the podcast on Patreon
2. Hidden Brain podcast episode on Climate Change inaction
3. Chris' book: "Organizing Responses to Climate Change: The Politics of Mitigation, Adaptation, and Suffering"
4. Planetary Boundaries in Climate Change
5. Paul Hoelen's podcast episode
6. Dan Winters' photograph, "Julia Butterfly Hill"
7. Pascal's Wager & The Precautionary Principle
8. Michaela Skovranova
9. Chris Eyre-Walker
10. Phil Norton