We begin to appreciate climate change, and to believe a little that it exists, when suddenly in winter it doesn't rain for a month, when we see that the drought hits our fields , when we get to 38º in the middle of April… But climate change has been around longer , and many have been alerting and documenting it for a decade.
This is the case of the German photographer Olaf Otto Becker, who has dedicated himself to landscape photography for more than 30 years, has made numerous works such as 'Broken line' in Greenland -where he arrived for the first time in 2003-.
“In 2002, after my own observations and research in Iceland, I realized for the first time that we were going to have a big problem due to the climate crisis. This was the reason why I planned and realized my project in Greenland. In 2003 I sent a ship and a lot of equipment there. I wanted to explore the west coast in several stages and for several years”, explains Olaf to Traveler.es.
It was then that he understood that the first place where global warming would be visible would be in the Arctic. So, he continued traveling, like this up to 14 times. “I published this work in the book 'Broken Line', which was awarded the German Photo Book Award. In 2007 and 2008 I went on two ice-walking expeditions inland with my assistant Georg Sichelschmidt to show the melting of the world's largest glacier,” he says.
These images materialized in another of his books, Above Zero and they went around the world. That was how he began collaborating with major climate agencies and with scientists at NASA, the University of Colorado, and other major research departments. In 2017, he published his third book 'Ilulissat' , dedicated to the icebergs , and in 2020, his last book Siberian Summer.
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A DECADE IN GREENLAND
Curiously, we can come to think that to carry out such a job it is impossible to do it alone, but the truth is that Otto, in his first forays, did so. In fact, he confirms that when one travel alone is the more the senses are sharpened.
That also carries some dangers, as he confirms, I have feared for his life on numerous occasions. “In 2006, I had a serious accident with an iceberg that almost cost me my life. I could only save myself!”, explains the photographer to Traveler.es.
The bad thing is that the more difficult something is, the more it excites him, so few things can stop him, even though he is 62 years old. “ Some challenges that he would have taken on when he was 40 years old, he could no longer do today , despite being very fit. The walking expeditions on the inside of the ice in Greenland were the most physically challenging I have ever experienced. I lost 17 kilos in three weeks because he was consuming more calories per day than he could get from eating.”
But, without a doubt, his effort was worth it. Thanks to his images, he has put on the table the disasters of the global warming . "I don't want to point the finger at anyone. After all, I am also part of the network that contributes to global warming: I drive a car, I fly in planes, I need electricity, energy for heating, etc. Therefore, each individual must begin to change something in himself. We have to ask ourselves before questioning others. I need this? Do I really need to drive my car there? Isn't it more reasonable to consume less? What can I do with my abilities so that we can all live better?
And he adds that the action of sustainability must be a free, voluntary action and of love for the Earth.