Image by Anna Heupel
“As I get older, I put my camera down just to look. When you lift a camera to your eye, you create a barrier between yourself and what's happening. So take time to feel and observe – especially when you're photographing wildlife and nature because we don't know how much longer it will be that way.”
Putting down your camera might sound like unconventional advice coming from a famed photographer, but Cristina Mittermeier’s path to becoming the first female photographer to reach one million followers on Instagram is certainly not a conventional one.
Born in Mexico City, Cristina’s passion has always been the natural world. She graduated from the ITESM University in Mexico with a degree in Biochemical Engineering in Marine Sciences, and worked as a marine biologist in the Gulf of California and the Yucatan Peninsula for many years before she even picked up a camera.
“When I was in my early 20s, I honestly thought the science work would allow me to speak with authority about a subject so that people would listen.”
Images by Cristina Mittermeier
But Cristina noticed the papers she and her collaborators laboured over for scientific journals weren’t reaching the big audiences she imagined as an idealistic, young scientist. “The paper comes, and you're the only one who's excited. Nobody else reads that stuff.”
After editing the first of 28 coffee table books on conservation, she soon realized the ideal vehicle for driving her passion home to more people. “When we launched the book, I noticed people browsing through the pages without reading the text. They were looking at the pictures and asking questions. And I thought, maybe scientific language is too highbrow for people to feel comfortable participating. Photography is how we lower the price of entry. It's how we make science more democratic and accessible to everyone.”
Cristina returned to school to study photography at the Corcoran College for the Arts in Washington, D.C. and has since spearheaded her activism with images and storytelling. In 2005, she founded the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) to provide a platform for photographers working on environmental issues. She then co-founded Sea Legacy with her partner, photographer Paul Nicklen, which aims to protect and preserve the world’s oceans through conservation work and storytelling. By leading these organizations, Cristina refined her storytelling process.
Images by Cristina Mittermeier
“I practice storytelling. I talk to myself in the car and tell stories to my neighbours, my mother-in-law, and my children just to see what resonates. Usually, it's authenticity and passion. As a storyteller, the most important skill you need is knowing if people are listening to you. You have to tell a story quietly, like you're telling a secret, to bring people in.”
A mother of three and mentor for many, Cristina is fuelled by an ever-increasing sense of urgency to safeguard our planet. She worries about how many people are disconnected from nature and wildlife, and the repercussions that arise from it – pandemics and super-viruses among them.
“Without nature, there's no economy or industry. There's nothing. And we have forgotten nature. People turn on the tap, and they don't see the stream or the river where the water came from. There's a huge disconnect because so many of us have been raised with the fear of nature. But how can you teach a child to love nature if you yourself feel disconnected? It's a real challenge.”
Images by Cristina Mittermeier
To bring people closer to the natural world, Cristina harnesses social media to share stunning images of nature, wildlife and indigenous communities around the globe. "I use my Instagram account as an instruction manual for how to live on earth. Everyday, I try to give a little knowledge or advice on how to be a good citizen of this planet. I want to build a bridge of empathy towards other creatures, but towards each other as well."
As she built her online following, Cristina had an epiphany – forging connections doesn’t come from facts alone. "I realized that people want to know what did it feel like, what was I thinking? Was it cold? All human questions. So if you incorporate personal elements into your narrative, and do it in a way that's intimate, people connect immediately. I often start by saying, 'This is how it felt, this is what it looked like.'"
Images by Cristina Mittermeier
By sharing personal stories alongside incredible images, Cristina has won accolades for her photographs of the natural world, indigenous rights and the empowerment of women. She has been a Sony Artisan of Imagery since 2008 and was named one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year in 2018.
Since the moment she understood the power of photography, Cristina hasn’t put the camera down. Yet the scientist and conservationist in her is working towards the day she will be able to do just that.
“If we saved the earth tomorrow, I probably would put my camera down and have no interest in it. I like stories, but I like saving wildlife and the environment more.”
To learn more about Cristina, visit her website or follow her on Instagram @mitty. To support her latest conservation work and protect the delicate Antarctic ecosystem, sign the only.one petition.
