Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Hot Latin Calendar Draws Attention to Climate Change, Extinction, Conservation

Puerto Rican Alessandra Rampolla embodies global warming as the January image for the Ecological Footprint calendar.

As reported by Treehugger, the Ecological Footprint calendar is a collaboration between the Azara Foundation and fashion photog Gaby Herbstein to raise awareness of global environmental issues. Super-creative and totally gorgeous shots, all! Very 2010.

See the other 10 images on the calendar on Treehugger.

Carla Peterson is a famous Argentinian actress and here stylishly (or garishly? Either way it’s a fun image) represents water pollution.

Lauri Lyons: Political Photographer and Thought-Provoking Critic of America

 

The photographer Lauri Lyons is a storyteller who utilizes her photography as well as words, both hers and those of others, to recount personal and cultural journeys.  Her latest project is the multimedia piece, Barack Obama and the American Dream, about the 2008 presidential election and 2009 inauguration.  She has deftly woven the images and voices of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama together with those of Americans and the international community into a story about the power of dreams. 

Between 1995 and 2000 Lyons began documenting our national dreams by traveling throughout the United States.  The product of her journey was Flag: An American Story, a photographic portrait series of Americans posing with the American flag.  In summer 2007, Lyons took up the American flag yet again on a European tour that wove together still more reflections on America into Flag International.  In Lyons work, the American flag, much like the American president, stands as a potent symbol for reflection upon individual and collective dreams – both those that inspire the joyous fulfillment of their realization and still others that land empty and short of their promises.

Eco Chick.com: We are used to seeing Americans (including the faces of recent immigrants, Olympic athletes, and soldiers) posed with the American flag, but not foreigners.  This “outsider” international perspective was very novel.  What do we learn by listening to the multiple ways Americans are perceived (positive and negative)?  What did you learn from the responses to the U.S. flag?

Lauri Lyons: My first book Flag: An American Story (2001) explored how Americans viewed themselves past, present, and future.  For Flag International (2008), my intention was to create a two way dialogue exploring how people living outside of the United States view America today.  To accomplish that goal I traveled to eight countries to photograph and interview the international community with the American flag.  The responses from people abroad inform us how American political policies have a real effect on their lives (i.e.: immigration, war, and the environment).  We also learn how American culture, especially entertainment, heavily influences and at times dominates their own national identity.  Mostly we are reminded that America is the only country on Earth which was created based on an ideal, and how at times we have measured up to that ideal and also fallen short.  Shooting Flag International taught me to always find my own answers to questions.  We don’t need to wait for CNN to tell us what’s going on in the world, we can find out for ourselves. 

 

EC: If someone were to suddenly toss me the U.S. flag, I have no idea how I would react.  I am confident that the exchange would take me off guard and feel like a confrontation with a set of ideals about being American.  We all know that our national flag is supposed to inspire feelings such as patriotism, heroism, decorum, and respect.  The treatment and use of the U.S. flag is also codified by regulations – for example, how it is supposed to be raised and lowered on a pole, how it should be folded, how it must not touch anything beneath it (such as the ground or floor), and how it may be displayed on certain patriotic holidays.  That is to say, we don’t usually interact with the flag spontaneously outside of codified practices.  What do you make of the spur-of-the-moment reactions of the people you photographed?  How does the flag transform real, everyday people?

LL: While conceptualizing the project my biggest fear was that people would not want to interact with the American flag.  I was also reminded by many Americans that the U.S. was not riding a high wave of popularity, and therefore I should scrap the idea.  Because none of the participants were expecting to be photographed or interviewed they were quite surprised when I pulled out a 3×5′ American flag.  However, once they realized they could use the flag as a form of personal expression (i.e.: do whatever they want with the flag) their candor and creativity widened.  People made use of the flag as a turban, sarong, and also folded the flag in the traditional manner.  Each person brought something new to the table and I never knew what to expect next.  I think the subject’s interaction with a tangible American flag forced them to be honest and public about their opinions of the U.S. and American people.

More »

WebEcoist: Sustainable Living, Green Design and Environmental Oddities

One of the latest additions to the green blogosphere comes to us from the creators of visually breathtaking, fascinating web magazine WebUrbanist.  It’s called WebEcoist, and it’s a buffet of beautiful green design, stunning nature photography, green tips and even vegan recipes. Since WebEcoist debuted in August they’ve been rolling out article after article packed with the kind of images and topics that suck you in for hours until you realize it’s 3am and you totally forgot to do the things you went online for in the first place.

Take, for example, a recent piece entitled ’10 Breathtaking Natural Cloud and Color Formations’. It’s part of a four-week four-elements series, which also includes sublime HDR sky, weather and cloud photos as well as chilling airborne disasters and weather patterns.

From WebEcoist:

WebEcoist is dedicated to the premise that the natural environment is not only fundamentally important to us in practical terms but is also amazingly intriguing in all kinds of ways many of us rarely consider. WebEcoist, like its sister site, is dedicated to in-depth and original articles on all kinds of subjects from art, design and technology to daily green living and environmental exploration. Here the idea of ‘going green’ does not just mean sorting your recycling – it is a way of looking at the world and thinking about our place and actions within it. Here you will find a vast amount of information condensed into articles and series that bring a wide range of useful and interesting eco-info right to your web browser.

Smart writing, unique topics and fantastic images (we really can’t overstate that, they’re that good) make WebEcoist a highly worthy addition to your RSS feed.  WebEcoist will undoubtedly surpise you again and again, serving up the kind of content you just can’t find anywhere else.

Tree Spirit Project

As a child I climbed the trees near my Hudson Valley home barefoot and half-naked. My favorites to clamber up were the evergreens, especially pines, which grew tallest in the second-growth forest that surrounded my home. I would hold on tight, as high up as I could climb and sway with the tree. Above the deciduous treetops there was almost always a breeze. When asked why I liked to climb so high, I recall explaining, “to see what I can see.” Sticky-sap stuck in between my fingers for days, bringing back an almost-instant memory of that week’s exploits.

I’ve always felt attached to trees, watching in fascination (and later teaching kids as an ecology instructor) about how a rotting tree is home to all kinds of creatures; even (and especially) in death, trees perpetuate the cycle of life, a good reminder to us all when we think of our ‘purpose in life’. Being considered a treehugger has never been insulting to me; I’ve hugged many a tree in my time, rough bark against my cheek, the particular scent of a Maple or Birch evident to my knowledgeable sniff-everything nose. Trees are my conduit to the Earth and the sky, to water and wind, and a reminder that real beauty lies in change, not stais: Brilliant leaves fall and branches stretch into the air, then lie bare to the winter winds, then grow anew the next Spring, budding with recreated green life.

Hence my appreciation for the Treespirit Project, which pairs the human form with that of various trees in a visual representation of the symbiotic relationship between people and trees. Or perhaps it’s not symbiosis; trees would do just fine without us. Without trees, however, we would not do so well.

The mission of the project’s photographer, Jack Geschiedt, is:

To share my love of trees and nature in community gatherings to create TreeSpirit photographs, intending for both the experiences and the photographs to encourage and inspire others to feel and express their own unique connection to nature.

To raise money for existing nonprofit environmental organizations that value and promote tree planting and protect green space within and outside our cities.

Thanks to Remy C. for the link!

GRRRR….een Fashion Shoot

Check out Summer Rayne’s HOTT new video for Behind the Label, her eco-fashion editorial for Lucire Magazine. Why can’t we get eco-fashion photography like this in a US-based magazine? (FYI, Not Safe For Work)