Honoring the Future Mourns Loss of Gifted Artist
World-renowned photographer Gary Braasch died March 7, 2016 while photographing the impacts of climate change on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The Portland, Oregon resident was in his early 70s.
Honoring the Future mourned his loss. “Gary’s photographs show us the human face of climate change,” said Fran Dubrowski, Director of Honoring the Future. “They invite us to enter the world of the photograph, see the damage and suffering wrought by climate change – and do something to stop it. They make us front-seat witnesses to climate change.”
Braasch was one of the first environmental photographers to dedicate himself to chronicling worldwide climate change. He traveled to all seven continents, deploying aerial, underwater, and macro photography to document humans and ecosystems at risk. He produced a massive photographic record of receding glaciers, flooded islands, oil-soaked waters, parched lands, stranded walruses, bleached coral reefs – even climate diplomacy at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
He spent time interviewing climate change scientists, poring over the scientific database and giving it a visual voice. His iconic images communicate what science could not: showing us how to see, feel, and think about climate havoc.
He understood the importance of context, juxtaposing old photographs of glaciers with modern images to illustrate how far glaciers had retreated, or capturing images of exploratory drilling equipment alongside pristine Arctic shores to show what was at risk in an oil spill.
His work graced the pages of the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Time, Life, Audubon, and Discover, among other publications. He wrote two books: the widely acclaimed “Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World” and, with co-author Lynne Cherry, “How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming.” The former book, aimed at adults, was one of the first photographic books on climate change; the latter won 16 awards, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science Best Middle-School Science Book of the Year.
A tireless advocate for climate education, Braasch launched a website, “World View of Global Warming,” to host his images as a resource for scientists, educators, students, and the public. He cofounded the nonprofit Young Voices on Climate Change and co-created a film series, “Young Voices for the Planet.” Nine of the brief films about student climate activists will be aired on 55 American public broadcasting stations beginning April, 2016.
Braasch contributed work to numerous exhibitions, including Honoring the Future’s recent Climate Art & Action exhibition at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional headquarters in Philadelphia, as well as exhibitions at the Boston Museum of Science, the National Academy of Science, and Chicago’s Field Museum, among other prestigious venues. He was a Founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a Nikon “Legend Behind the Lens” photographer who won coveted awards, including the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography and North American Nature Photography Association’s Outstanding Photographer Award.
Braasch died while photographing coral bleaching and death off the coast of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a 1,400 mile-long World Heritage Site threatened by rising sea levels, warmer and more acidic oceans, and extreme weather attributable to climate change.
“He was a great man, and he died doing what he loved to do,” said his son, Cedar Braasch. Peter Handler, Honoring the Future Arts Advisor, noted: “Gary left a vast and powerful photographic legacy. He educated us, challenged us, and inspired us to act on climate change. We and future generations will always be in his debt.”
