Gianni Branciforte

Digital photographs, 2020

As a photographer who often does not choose to shoot people or current events, I still find my work to be relevant when it comes to climate change as well as preservation. Landscape photography is something I have been working on since I was 15 years old. I feel I’m extremely critical of my own work and as any artist believes, there is always room for improvement. A lot of the photography I do he’s often shot in desolate places far from artificial lighting and crowds. I am to find locations that are not recognized by tourism or people in general. Finding remote locations always seems to have a cleaner field to me, and it is in these places that I obtain some of the better exposures. When it comes to climate change and the environment in general, capturing photos that show the natural beauty of our planet I find can speak to nearly anyone, regardless of his or her beliefs. Shooting specifically at coastal locations, I find there is always a new spot to be discovered. Through long exposure and Astro photography, it becomes very easy to capture a lot of the beauty that the naked eye cannot see. My camera allows me to capture parts of our world that what otherwise go unnoticed. Utilizing the function of my camera and pushing the limits of what it can capture I feel helps to illustrate the natural beauty of the world around us. I am to capture pictures that look surreal, and I certainly try to stray away from any major edits. Other than color correction, I don’t use any destructive or intrusive edits on any of my photos. A large part of my work follows the simple philosophy of “what you see is what you get”. Being able to capture images that seems surreal or otherwise fake is what I believe speaks to people. Capturing the attention of any viewer is the goal of any photographer or artist for that matter.

Being able to do so in a way that also helps to display naturalistic elements of our world is what I am to push in terms of capturing our environment. The most satisfying part for me, is releasing the shutter and finding my cameras screen displaying images that only exist after minutes or sometimes hours of exposure. It’s these photos that help to expose what our world has to offer that otherwise goes unnoticed. As carbon emissions rise and as our world continues to deteriorate, images such as the ones I capture will become less and less possible. Ironically enough, humans are both of the reason our world is in jeopardy and the reason our world can be saved. I tried to use my work as a reminder that it is up to humanity to preserve what we have left. While maybe not all of my images speak to this level, I believe that most people that see the images I create don’t always believe they are real. Part of that goes to show how unaware people may be to what landscape photography truly has to offer. Capturing breathtaking views and displaying them in ways that catch the attention of an average viewer is, for me, the best way to get my point across. If no one works together to prevent the climate crisis and abuse of our environment, then we become our own worst enemy. Being able to capture the world we live in and display it in a breathtaking way helps to serve as a reminder that it is not too late to make a change for the better.