Photography – A Catalyst for Change
On Thursday January 13th, Keyworth Camera Club were honoured to welcome Britta Jaschinski to give her presentation ‘Photography – A Catalyst for Change’.
Britta is a photojournalist and her powerful, sometimes disturbing, images have helped make a change to how animals are treated within the world and have had an impact on the illegal trade in wildlife – something which helps viruses leap from species to species, including humans.
As expected, Britta photographs, all taken on film, and mainly produced as gritty black and white images, were hard-hitting, yet strangely hauntingly beautiful. Britta’s commentary was enthralling and certainly made us think about how some of the human race treat animals. Britta also gave us ideas on how we could make a difference by simply changing how we go about our everyday lives.
Britta teamed up with a number of other world-recognized wildlife photographers and working under the name Photographers Against Wildlife Crime they produced a book that has highlighted the horrors she talked about. This has led to countless exhibitions and speaking opportunities worldwide and has proved that photographers can make a difference through the medium of photography.
Although the subject of the talk sounds like it was all about doom and gloom, we must point out that it wasn’t. Britta’s prose was also uplifting, gave hope, showed how a little effort could make major changes for the better.
Britta’s superb presentation brought forth an avalanche of questions that she answered with honesty and humour. In fact, Britta stayed online for an hour and a half after the talk had ended to discuss her experiences more and to chat about photography in general. This truly was a night to remember.
