We are thrilled to introduce the stunning roster of our 2024 Girls Who Click Ambassadors! Following an intensive selection process, we’ve carefully curated a collection of 16 outstanding New Ambassadors and welcomed 22 Continuing Ambassadors from a pool of over 160 fiercely competitive applicants. These adept photographers and videographers, representing diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, add a kaleidoscope of perspectives to our program.
Beyond their technical prowess and dedication to launching their professional photography careers, these creatives are also champions of conservation. We invite you to explore their captivating portfolios and follow their artistic journeys. Supporting these emerging talents not only nurtures their development but also fosters optimism for a luminous future.
Join us in applauding these exceptional ambassadors.
Each Ambassador has been thoughtfully matched with one of our Partner Photographers, forming a dynamic duo poised to hopefully help take their careers to new heights. These amazing individuals, the backbone of the Girls Who Click Ambassador Program, generously contributes their expertise and mentorship, for which we are profoundly grateful.
Beyond personalized guidance, Ambassadors gain access to Girls Who Click’s nature photography workshops and portfolio reviews, chances to utilize the GWC Social Media platform for their own work, and peer-to-peer connection all over the world in Ambassador-Only virtual meet-ups.
Many of our Continuing Ambassadors, some with us since 2021, will continue into leadership roles, embodying the mission of Girls Who Click.
A heartfelt thank you goes to our program sponsor, Gitzo, who are ensuring our Ambassadors receive cutting-edge equipment, hopefully helping them in the field.
This post was originally written and published byGitzo.
Girls Who Click
Gitzo has always been committed to nurturing and inspiring nature photographers to grow and take a step further. By collaborating with Girls Who Click, Gitzo extends its mission to empower the next generation of female wildlife photographers.
Beyond broadening Gitzo’s horizons, this partnership also paves the way for a more inclusive and diverse world within nature and wildlife photography.
Nature photography is a way to celebrate and explore the beauty of nature. It’s for anyone with a curiosity and passion for the natural world, who likes creative storytelling and being outdoors. Now, picture a nature photographer out in the field, skillfully planning their shot and maneuvering their gear.
What do they look like? Who do you see? What kinds of stories are they telling about nature?
@aledecoibri
The field of nature and wildlife photography is disproportionately male, and far fewer women than men enter wildlife photo competitions. What factors contribute to this phenomenon, why are the numbers of female wildlife photographers limited, and most importantly, is there potential for change soon?
There is nothing inherently gendered about the skills or traits required to be a nature photographer, so why aren’t there more women? While this issue is complex with no simple solution, that doesn’t mean nature photography can’t become a more balanced field. Nature is incredibly diverse and the voices telling the stories of nature should reflect that. That’s where Girls Who Click comes in.
About Girls Who Click
Girls Who Click is a nonprofit organization founded by Suzi Eszterhas, an award-winning wildlife photographer, that is inspiring and empowering girls to develop a lifelong passion for framing the nature around them and striving to protect it. Girls Who Click partners with full-time working professional photographers from around the world to offer free workshops, physical and online, for girls ages 13-18. It also runs an annual mentorship program, the “Ambassador Program”, for young female conservation photographers and videographers ages 16-30.
@beth.hotchkiss.photo
@rylee_jay_photo
The Mission
Girls Who Click’s philosophy is based on the real-life experiences of nature photographers in the industry leading free photography workshops for teen girls, ages 13-18. In-person workshops include a full day of photography instruction, combined with hands-on practice in the field. For photographers who can’t make it to one of the in-person locations, Girls Who Click hosts frequent online workshops, which are accessible worldwide. All the workshops are led by Girls Who Click partner photographers able to share knowledge, experience, and advice about nature photography, from technical skills to artistry and professional development.
Through this collaboration, Gitzo aims to empower and inspire young women to pursue their passion for framing the natural world, breaking down barriers and stereotypes that may have hindered their participation in the past.
By supporting Girls Who Click, Gitzo is not only championing gender equality in photography but also ensuring that fresh perspectives and talents thrive, enriching the field of wildlife and conservation photography for years to come.
@aliciahaydenwildlife
@_miss.v.m_
Ambassadors Mentor Program
Girls Who Click believes that the perspectives behind the lens should be as various as the nature in front of it. This is the reason behind the Ambassador Program, a hands-on mentorship project for female nature photographers and videographers ages 16-30 who seek to take their art to the next level. Ambassadors come from all over the world and different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.
What makes the Ambassador Program unique? How does Gitzo enter the game?
Each Ambassador is paired up with a mentor based on their professional and personal goals. During the year-long mentorship, they will virtually meet with their mentor to develop their portfolio, gain key insights on breaking into the industry, and cultivate a network of supportive peers in the photography industry.
Renowned for its commitment to excellence, Gitzo has gone above and beyond by offering top-tier professional gear tailored to support photographersduring the educational program, thereby paving the way for their aspirations. Are you curious about Ambassadors’ works? Keep following us on social media to stay up to date on the partnership.
As a photographer, I was always intrigued by the ocean. However, the thought of getting into the water and submerging my precious camera stopped me in my tracks. Not only does underwater photography require a new set of skills, but it’s a whole series of expenses on top of the already costly field of photography. That being said, it’s also the most fun I’ve had with a camera! If you’ve ever wanted to get into underwater photography but were unsure where to start, please read on, because this article is for you.
A giant sea bass approaches Mayer's lens! She had to react quickly to capture the fleeting moment when this fish swam over her.
The first step to being an underwater photographer actually has nothing to do with photography: it’s becoming comfortable in the ocean. This doesn’t just mean swimming, but using specialized gear that will allow you to see below the surface. For some, that might mean using a mask and snorkel and staying shallow. For others, it might mean freediving, where you swim down on a single breath hold. And then there’s the activity that allows you to stay underwater the longest: scuba diving! For any of these activities, it should go without saying that you must be confident in the water. While I recommend taking a freediving course with a professional, if it’s something that interests you, let’s focus on the logistics of becoming a scuba diver and taking photos on scuba.
Finding the right scuba mask for your face shape is really important – it’s your window to the underwater world! – Photo by Joel Wilson.
To put it very simply, scuba diving allows you to breathe underwater for long periods of time from a portable air cylinder. That’s why scuba diving absolutely requires training from a professional. You can access scuba training through dive shops, which should have a reputable dive instruction organization that they’re affiliated with. This means that the shop offers scuba lessons designed by a professional agency and carried out by an instructor certified to teach that agency’s standards. Depending on where you live, you may have a scuba shop nearby, but if not, many people travel in order to complete their training.
During your entry level certification, you’ll learn the principles of diving through both written and practical instruction. Most classes begin in a pool, and end in a larger body of water like a lake or the ocean. Once you’ve completed this type of course, you’ll receive a certification card, which will enable you to rent scuba gear from shops, obtain air cylinders, and dive in open water without an instructor (but always with a buddy!). Many agencies offer certifications to children as young as ten, though these junior certifications will likely have other restrictions attached.
Scuba diving lessons can be expensive and not within someone’s budget. Don’t panic yet; there are scholarships available! The Women Divers Hall of Fame offers grants every year for basic dive training, and a quick internet search may illuminate other financial assistance available in your area. You can also look for grants through the websites of professional dive organizations or ask your local dive shop. In some cases, you may even be able to get certified through your high school or college.
While you don’t have to buy your own scuba equipment right away, renting gear over and over can become more expensive than buying it. Investing in quality gear and taking good care of it will ensure that it lasts a long time. If your budget is limited, keep a sharp eye out for secondhand gear on social media. Many people resell gear that has hardly been used, so you can often get quality items at a discount if you are persistent in checking these sites. Always have any used gear serviced by a professional scuba shop before you trust your life with it
Mayer swimming through the kelp forest. Her 8/7mm wetsuit is a typical scuba setup for cold water diving in southern California. - Photo by Joe Wilson
So you’ve gotten scuba certified and you have your own gear- now what? Resist the temptation to take a camera with you immediately and practice your scuba skills! Building confidence and comfortability underwater should be your first priority, and you don’t want to make a mistake because you’ve introduced a camera before you were ready. You may even want to take additional scuba courses before you get to this point. Once you’re very confident in your diving abilities, you can add a camera.
Perhaps you already own a nice camera, and want to but an underwater housing for it. I wouldn’t recommend this as a fist step. A proper dive housing for a professional camera may be more expensive than the camera itself! This is because the housing must be able to withstand huge amounts of water pressure for sustained periods of time in order to keep your camera dry and safe. These housings are vacuum sealed and rated to depths well beyond what you would be diving, and are not to be confused with “waterproof” housings. While “waterproof” may sound like you can take it scuba diving, you will want to look closely at the technical specs, because waterproof may really mean that it allows you to briefly submerge your camera at the surface. This is not something you will want to cut corners on, as a failure of you housing can ruin both the housing and your camera.
With this in mind, most beginner underwater photographers start with a simpler and less expensive underwater camera setup while they master the principles of diving and underwater photography.
A leopard shark cruises between eelgrass beds.
The Olympus TG-6 is a very popular entry level option. On its own, it has a depth rating of 50 feet, but you should purchase the dive housing for this small camera, changing its depth rating to 150 feet. This camera will shoot 4k video and 12 megapixel photos, and has a built in 25-100mm lens with a macro function. This allows you to shoot in a variety of styles and figure out what style of underwater photography you like.
The GoPro Hero series is another great option. These cameras shoot video and photos, are super compact, and can be used with a wide variety of mounts and accessories. Just remember to buy the protective housing, which will allow you to take it to depths of 192ft (far deeper that you’ll go on a recreational scuba dive!).
If you have a decent camera on your smartphone, this can be another great beginner underwater camera! Companies like Sealife sell housings for smartphones that make them waterproof up to 130 feet. If you’re interested in experimenting with artificial light to enhance your photos, Sealife even offers trays with lights attached, which also make it easier to hold your phone underwater.
Garibaldi and a sheephead swim in the kelp forest.
Now that you’ve got your camera, go play! You’ll probably find, as I did, that adding a new element to your diving makes it feel like you’re on your first dive all over again. That’s okay! Take your time, stay clam, adjust to the new feelings, and don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t come together right away.
The best natural light is in shallow water! Check out the pretty light dapple on this octopus.
You’ll also discover that underwater photography is completely different from shooting on land; it’s almost like learning photography all over again. Water absorbs light, so everything is much darker. In fact, many underwater photographers choose to use strobes with their professional setups, a complicated subject that deserves its own article. If you’re working with a beginner’s setup, and no lights, you’ll quickly realize that only shallower subjects are illuminated enough to get a decent photograph. This is also okay! Working with natural light is a good place to start while you learn.
Waiting in front of a cool background can be rewarding! The colors of this parrotfish stand out better against the brown of the corals than the blue of the water.
Water also distorts things, so you’ll find that you may need to be much closer to a subject than what you’re accustomed to. This often means waiting patiently for a fish to swim right in front of your lens, where you’ll have only a second to snap the perfect frame. Sometimes I’ll wait by a particularly pretty rock or kelp clearing until a fish comes by, because I think it will make a nice background. As you go out and experiment, you’ll find other strategies that work for you, and that just takes practice.
Once you’ve mastered your basic underwater camera, you may decide to upgrade to a professional camera and dive housing, along with a set of strobes. Just like with scuba gear, you can get a good deal on something lightly used if you look hard enough. Regularly check dive forums, social media and your local scuba shop, because people are likely to resell something relatively unused for a much better price than new gear.
Mayer scuba diving in Bonaire with her Sony A7RIII in a Nauticam housing. Photo by Joel Wilson
Hopefully, this has given you some clarity on a field where there is so much new information to absorb. If you’re still nervous about the prospect of going underwater, please know that this is totally normal! The key is to be patient. Be patient with your scuba skills, be patient with mastering underwater photography, be patient waiting until the time is right before you finally purchase your long-awaited professional dive camera setup. The payoff for that patience is the privilege of visiting and documenting places that most humans will never get to see. What could be more worthwhile than that?
Chelsea Mayer (She/Her) grew up in Huntington Beach, California, and attended UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. After working on film sets, she took a job with a whale watching company as a photographer and deckhand, and she fell in love with wildlife photography. Wanting to explore as much of the sea as possible, Chelsea earned her 100 ton captain’s license, and then took up scuba diving and became a divemaster. She continues to work on boats as a divemaster, captain and naturalist, in addition to working as an underwater photographer.
We are thrilled to introduce you to the 2022 Girls Who Click Ambassadors. This group was selected from over 160 competitive applicants and includes 14 Ambassadors who are new to the program and 14 Continuing Ambassadors. They are young, talented photographers and videographers that come from many different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Along with a special drive to launch their professional photography career, they are also fierce advocates for conservation. Please take the time to look at their work and follow them. They are a worthy investment and they make us more hopeful than ever about the future. WOW.
The Ambassador Program is one-of-a-kind: a professional mentorship that launches diverse women and non-binary individuals into nature photography, an industry that is heavily male-dominated and white. Girls Who Click is committed to making changes happen.
Click on the links below to learn more about each amazing Ambassador!
We would also like to re-introduce you to our Continuing Ambassadors who are staying with the program to continue developing their work! The Ambassadors exemplify Girls Who Click’s mission and values and have demonstrated leadership and passion in the Ambassador Program.
Each Ambassador has been paired with an established professional photographer who will help her take the next step in her career. These exceptional Girls Who Click partner photographers are the backbone of the Ambassador Program and we are deeply indebted to them for their mentoring and generosity.
In addition to mentorship, Ambassadors have access to all Girls Who Click nature photography workshops. The Ambassador Program is sponsored by ThinkTank, LEE Filters, and Wild Idea Lab, who will provide special benefits to Ambassadors.
Welcome to Part 5 of our GWC Ambassador series! In this post, we feature three more talented photographers in the program. Read on to learn more about their inspiring work.
Make sure to check out the rest of the series on our blog.
Featured in this blog:
Evelyn Smalley (mentor: Erin Ranney)
Samantha Stephens (mentor: Morgan Heim)
Emma Balunek (mentor: Jaymi Heimbuch)
Evelyn Smalley
This picture was taken by one of my closest friends in an attempt to get my first “headshot”, before Erin introduced me on her Instagram. This picture highlights how awkward I am in front of the camera compared to behind it. As a fairly introverted character I really struggle to put myself out there, a fear I am desperately trying to overcome before the inevitable freelance life arrives!
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
After having the wonderful opportunity to experience Southern Africa at a young age, I knew for my sanity I needed to spend the rest of my life working in the remote places of the world surrounded by nature. It therefore seemed logical to apply to the BSc Zoology in Manchester’s concrete jungle. Whilst day-to-day life is pretty nature deprived, I have been able to travel across the world for various field courses and placements, teaching myself how to navigate a camera along the way.
Only now after four years have I realised I actually have an aversion to everything statistical. Whilst we would be nowhere without science, it’s actually its communication I’m interested in. Instead of being cocooned in a laboratory pumping out research papers, through the lens of a camera I want to share inspiring stories from the front lines of conservation. The visual medium is a formidable, emotive tool that when wielded effectively can galvanise audiences to protect the natural world and the well-being of our species.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
I applied to the Girls Who Click Ambassador Program because it’s such an ingenious, empowering initiative that I really wanted to be a part of. But also because I had never had a professional opinion of my photography. It’s lovely when your friends and family give you compliments, but to be accepted onto this program alongside such astonishing women was just insane. Through this mentorship, not only am I hoping to grow as a person and storyteller, but also to build a supportive network of like-minded women who are driven to protect the natural world through the visual medium.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
My mentor is the badass wildlife camera operator Erin Ranney – who can carry her own kit, thank you. Just as she followed in the footsteps of Justine Evans and Sophie Darlington, my dream is to follow in hers. Erin has provided invaluable advice from camera settings to the importance of storytelling. Through our chats Erin has given me much needed confidence in my ability, because of her I actually believe I can become a wildlife filmmaker.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
As part of my final year dissertation, I chose a science communication project. For this I had the amazing opportunity to create my first film. The Salamander’s Saviour is a short documentary about the conservation of a critically endangered Mexican salamander by a convent of nuns. Whilst the process was slightly stressful due to COVID restrictions and a complete lack of experience, I’m very proud of the finished product. As I am no longer a student and now just unemployed, I am currently looking for any jobs vaguely wildlife or media-related before applying for UWE’s MA Wildlife Filmmaking.
This image, titled Nature’s Pitfall, is one of my favourite images I’ve created so far. First, it involved some technical challenges related to figuring out how to light and compose this scene creatively. It’s something that I photographed over and over again, and I am proud of the result of that process. Additionally, it has captured people’s curiosity. Curiosity is such an important element of the scientific process and so when I photograph stories of scientific research, I try to inspire that same feeling in the viewer. I hope that I can create images that make people ask, “what is going on here?!” and then be intrigued to delve further into the story.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Growing up science was my favourite subject in school. Back then, I didn’t realize that there was any other way to turn that passion into a career aside from the obvious choice to pursue an education in science. While studying biology, I became much more interested in communicating science, rather than conducting research. When I heard about the Environmental Visual Communication program, a post-graduate program that teaches those with a background in science to become visual storytellers, I knew right away that that was the career path I wanted to pursue.
I am currently based in Ottawa, Canada, where I grew up, and the majority of my photographic work focuses on wildlife research and conservation local to this area. For the past few years, I have been primarily based at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station, located in Ontario’s iconic Algonquin Provincial Park, where I’ve been documenting various wildlife research projects on turtles, salamanders, wolves and small mammals.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
GWC is such an important initiative. I think if something like GWC had existed when I was younger, I would have recognized photography as a career path earlier in my journey. I applied to GWC because I was keen to join a supportive group of women who are empowering each other to become the best visual storytellers we can be. The opportunity to be mentored by a woman photographer who can not only help with the craft of photography itself, but also provide advice and share experiences related to navigating a career in this field is an invaluable opportunity. There’s a lot of variability in what a career in nature/conservation photography can look like, which is exciting, but can also make it difficult to navigate. I hope one day, when I’m further along in my own career, I can be a mentor to a future GWC Ambassador!
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you so far?
My mentor is Morgan Heim. I’ve admired Morgan’s work since I first considered switching from a career in wildlife research to one in photography. Morgan’s work has led to tangible conservation outcomes, and that’s something I aim for with my own projects. I have been working on some long-term photography projects that I’m able to go back and shoot again and again, so Morgan has been helping me think about how I can photograph these stories in different, creative ways and how to build a narrative. She is also helping me learn how to pitch this work to editors.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
As I write this, I’m currently in the field, at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station. I’m continuing to document wildlife research projects that take place here and I’m excited to start sharing some of that work soon!
I love this photo because my friends, my dog, and I were hanging out in a beautiful aspen grove in Colorado. My dog and I are happiest when we are exploring outside with a camera, so it is a fitting photo.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Growing up I spent almost every weekend outdoors catching newts and fireflies, planting trees, and putting up bird boxes to help restore our family property for wildlife. My affinity for nature continued when I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to study ecosystem science and sustainability. I now work for the Colorado Natural Heritage Program doing field work to conserve Colorado’s ecosystems and species that call them home. Colorado is such a diverse state with mountains on the west and plains on the east. I love being able to go hiking in the mountains and well as explore the plains.
The turning point for me into conservation photography was on a Kids Conservation Photography Workshop in Ecuador. Our project for the trip was to create a photo story. I learned that I could combine two things I loved: conservation and photography. Since then, I have been improving my photography storytelling skills by working on projects near home, specifically with prairie dogs.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
I applied to GWC to connect with other women photographers. My mentor has helped me work through story ideas and solve problems that arise. Being a part of GWC has allowed me to build new connections with similar people.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
My mentor is Jaymi Heimbuch. She is the perfect mentor for me because she loves conservation photography and knows how to help others improve. Jaymi has been helpful in talking through ideas about my projects and other photography related topics.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I am working on a camera trap project in the plains focused on a rock pile where a variety of wildlife comes, like golden eagles, badgers, coyotes, and swift foxes. A new addition to my story is a timelapse camera to document what the wildlife experience in a year. I am excited to turn this project into a science communication master’s program in the near future! I am looking forward to learning more about how to communicate science effectively through photos and videos and building photography into my career.
Growing up, Alice’s dream was to become a National Geographic photographer. This passion led her to spend much of her high school years photographing and sharing stories of wildlife in her own backyard, which earned her a spot in the 2016 NANPA High School Scholarship Program. She then went on to pursue a degree in environmental biology and a graduate certificate in environmental visual communication, sharpening her skills and building a foundation for a career in visual storytelling. Today, she is a freelance science communicator and conservation storyteller based in Vancouver, Canada. Inspiring young people to pursue the same dream she had is something that Alice is passionate about, and why she’s extremely be on the Girls Who Click team! Visit Alice’s website (alicesun.ca) to see the stories she has told over the years.
Welcome to Part 4 of our GWC Ambassador series! In this post, we feature four more talented photographers in this program, learn about their inspiring work, and talk about some of the challenges in nature photography.
Make sure to check out the rest of the series on our blog.
I am happiest when I am out on adventures and have my camera in hand. This photo, taken by photojournalist Sofi Lundin, shows me on my recent assignment to Uganda where I documented the voyage of the Flipflopi, a boat made from recycled plastic.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a visual storyteller especially interested in projects with a focus on wildlife conservation, ecosystem restoration and human stories about our relationship with nature. Natural history is a subject that captures my imagination like no other and I cannot remember a time when I have not been filled with a sense of wonder and fascination for the living things we share our planet with. I first picked up a camera in primary school. As a kid who felt like they didn’t really fit in, using a camera was like my key to the world. It gave me the confidence to pursue my interest in nature.
When I was in college, I got my heart set on a career in wildlife photography and film. And in 2017, I graduated from Falmouth University with a first class bachelor’s degree in Marine and Natural History Photography. Since then I have worked on assignments with The Canid Project, Shepreth Hedgehog Hospital, the United Nations and the National Geographic Society.
My projects include photographing the critically important work of rangers on the frontline of wildlife conservation in Kyrgyzstan, documenting endemic species in the Galapagos Archipelago, filming the rescue and rehabilitation of European hedgehogs and filming the voyage of a boat made out of recycled flip flops on Lake Victoria in Uganda.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
I applied to the Ambassador program because I struggle with imposter syndrome. I sometimes doubt my abilities and can miss out on opportunities as a result of this. Also, when you are a freelancer you need to constantly build your network and develop your skill set to maintain a steady income. Girls Who Click seemed like an excellent opportunity for both networking and professional development.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
My mentor is Katie Schuler, a co-founder of Coral and Oak Studio. Katie’s films about pangolins are a huge inspiration to me and during the mentorship she has helped me to build confidence and learn new skills. Being a GWC Ambassador has allowed me to connect with a community of like-minded individuals and gain confidence in my professional life.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
At the start of 2021, I relocated to Nairobi, Kenya for my work with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It has been a difficult time and moving abroad during a pandemic is no easy task. Like so many across the world, I am separated from my family and loved ones with no option to see them while international travel bans are in place. However, I have been extremely fortunate to relocate to such a beautiful country. Since living here I have been able to pursue lots of interesting projects close to home and learn about the fascinating Kenyan wildlife.
The next decade has been declared by the United Nations as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. So I am excited to be working on stories with the local community in Nairobi, where youth groups are restoring urban areas through litter picking, tree planting and creating green spaces. I am also enjoying a personal project where I have been working on documenting a local tea farm and their beautiful garden which attracts an incredible diversity of wildlife.
I´m a wildlife ecologist, conservationist, and self-taught wildlife and landscape photographer from Germany. My photography journey started back in 2013 when I went to Uganda for a 5-months internship. Right before leaving Germany, I bought my first camera so I could capture all the natural wonders of this country. I knew nothing about photography, let alone how a camera works, so I basically let my camera do the job. However, I really enjoyed taking photos, especially capturing all the wild animals.
Back in Germany, I barely touched my camera for a few years. Wildlife is not so easy to photograph in Europe, and I just moved to the Netherlands to start my career in wildlife ecology and conservation. Luckily, it was these science-related studies that brought me back to photography. Through my studies, I got an incredible chance to work with wildlife all around the world, my camera always being my loyal companion.
Eventually, I upgraded my equipment to a new set-up that took my photography to a new level! Finally, I was able to capture what fascinates me the most: wild animals in their natural habitat. Since then, I try to spend every free minute outside in order to capture everything wild; from birds in my backyard, to iconic wildlife in Africa and fascinating landscapes all over the globe.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
Before I found out about GWC and the Ambassador program, I felt a bit lost in my photography journey. I wanted to do more with my photos, give them meaning instead of simply piling them up on my hard drive. However, I did not want to choose between a career in wildlife ecology or wildlife photography, thus I started to think about combining my two passions.
One day I was scrolling through my Instagram feed when I came across a post from GWC and the Ambassador program. That was the first time that I heard about GWC and when I started to look into the program, I knew that this would be my chance to find my right path. I also hoped to get in touch with other creative and like-minded girls from all around the world, because to be honest, my photography network was very male-dominated till then.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you so far?
My mentor is Janet Kleyn. Janet is a professional wildlife photographer and nature and trails guide from South Africa, and she is now managing a photographic concession in Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana. People who know me know that she´s the perfect match for me. We have monthly zoom meetings, and she prepares different assignments for me each month that I can work on. For example, last month we worked on high- and low-key photography. She is challenging and motivating me every month and I’m learning so much from her. I´m really happy to have her by my side.
Also, thanks to the program I connected with so many different and talented young women from all around the world, and every single one of them is a true inspiration for me. Still can’t believe I am part of this!
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I am currently writing my master’s thesis about how different environmental factors influence the fecundity of red kites and black kites in eastern Germany. I also landed my first proper job as an ecologist/biologist in northern Germany. So, my thesis and job are keeping me quite busy. Photography-wise I´m currently exploring my new home, especially the local nature areas, and I try to capture everything wild around here.
I took this image as part of my current project on grey seals in the UK – it shows a newborn seal pup in the centre of a carpark, having lost its mother amidst unusually high tides. This image represents the direction I aim to take my filming and photography: documenting stories of human impact on nature – both good and bad, to inspire change.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am a wildlife videographer and photographer, based in London, England. I am in my element whilst surrounded by nature, observing and learning from wildlife – filming and photography enable me to share those experiences in a meaningful way.
Over the past few years, I have used my spare time to work with wildlife organisations and non-profits, showcasing their conservation efforts through images and videos. Going forward, I am determined to turn my passion for nature and visual storytelling into a full-time pursuit by creating and sharing powerful, visually compelling stories.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
I have found that whilst working long hours in a different industry, it is easy to put your dreams and goals on the backburner and let months (or even years) pass in the blink of an eye. This pushed me to apply to the Girls Who Click program – I felt it could help guide me through the progress of achieving my goal of entering the industry professionally: helping me to focus on next steps, giving me accountability and the constructive criticism on my work that I was craving.
I wanted the opportunity to learn from experts, really push myself and to join a community of like-minded filmmakers and photographers. Girls Who Click has not disappointed!
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
Esther Horvath, my mentor, is an incredible inspiration – she is a documentary photographer who focuses on showcasing the work of scientists in the polar regions. The Girls Who Click team did a brilliant job of matching us up; we share a very similar background: both having had a different career path before pursuing photography/filmmaking.
Esther has been a huge source of advice and motivation for me over the last few months. I have already learnt a lot, from experimenting with different techniques, to carving out time to pursue personal projects, or invaluable advice with editing photo stories. She pushes me to be my best and I am incredibly grateful for all her support!
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
At the moment I am excited to be working on a project about conflict between fishing communities and grey seals in the UK, exploring how rapid growth of colonies – on the face of it conservation success – creates novel challenges. They are amazing creatures, and the UK is home to about 50% of the world’s grey seal population, so is crucial to their long-term survival.
This photograph titled “Tender Eyes” featuring a Griffon Vulture is very dear to me. Not just because of the story behind it, which was a great life experience (travelling all the way to Spain on my own for the first time, learning a lot about the Monfragüe National Park and the issues surrounding this species), but because it awarded me the 2019 Nature 1st place in the National Geographic Travel contest, as well as other awards and it has travelled the world through many media outlets.
I have also gotten emails about how people looking at my photo have started seeing vultures in a different light and are more interested in their conservation, which I think is just awesome and very humbling. It has always been a goal of mine to inspire people to act on nature’s and animals’ behalf though my photography, and I am glad I was able to spread some of the love I feel for birds of prey and vultures around the world through this photograph, and maybe helped a tiny bit in their conservation by inspiring some people.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am a conservation photographer and environmental educator from Mexico City in Mexico. I have been doing photography for almost 10 years now and have always focused my work on helping nature conservation.
For the last 4 years I have been working on a project called Mexico City’s Wildlife, aimed at teaching citizens, especially children about the wildlife that still survives in the forests, wetlands and other ecosystems in Mexico City and how they can aid in their conservation. The project is done all through photography, science and workshops at schools as well as public photographic exhibitions.
I am also an environmental and animal rights activist. Right now I am a volunteer and spokesperson for the “Xochimilco Vivo” collective fighting to save one of Mexico City’s last wetlands: Xochimilco.
2. Why did you apply to GWC? What are you hoping to achieve?
I applied to GWC in hopes of getting my career out there. As a woman, and even worse a Mexican woman, making it in the nature photography industry is really complicated as work opportunities are slim or practically non-existent, and our work as women tends to be overlooked by fellow male colleagues and other institutions. So I wanted to learn how to get past these obstacles.
Sadly due to personal and economical issues, related to these hurdles and now also the pandemic, I was forced to leave the Ambassador program and photography for a while in order to help out my family financially.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
My mentor was Diana Caballero Alvarado. She is a conservation photographer living in Veracruz, Mexico, she has been focusing her work in giving a voice to native bees and their relationship with the environment. During the mentorships, we were working on my storytelling and other techniques. Although our ways of telling stories and making photographs are different and don’t quite “click” with one another, I learned a lot from her and will forever be grateful for this opportunity.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
Right now I have gone back to working a 9-5 job, at least for a while to get back on my feet and help out my family financially. I hope to resume photography and my projects when everything is calmer in the near future.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next installment of this series.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity
Written by Alice Sun
Growing up, Alice’s dream was to become a National Geographic photographer. This passion led her to spend much of her high school years photographing and sharing stories of wildlife in her own backyard, which earned her a spot in the 2016 NANPA High School Scholarship Program. She then went on to pursue a degree in environmental biology and a graduate certificate in environmental visual communication, sharpening her skills and building a foundation for a career in visual storytelling. Today, she is a freelance science communicator and conservation storyteller based in Vancouver, Canada. Inspiring young people to pursue the same dream she had is something that Alice is passionate about, and why she’s extremely be on the Girls Who Click team! Visit Alice’s website (alicesun.ca) to see the stories she has told over the years.
We’re back with another round of interviews with GWC Ambassadors, including some of our youngest members in the program. We have no doubt you’ll be inspired.
We’ll be posting more of these blogs throughout this year. Make sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 of the series as well!
Featured in this blog:
Celina Chien (mentor: Amy Marquis)
Sadie Hine (mentor: Karine Aigner)
Chelsea Mayer (mentor: Brenda Tharp)
Daphne P. (mentor: Suzi Eszterhas)
Celina Chien
I define myself as a photojournalist and ecologist, and I find that this photo really represents some of the values that I hold close to my heart, which are: granting empathy to other forms of life, seeing animals with respect to their wider ecosystems or in the context of their environments, and destroying this idea that humans are superior to other living things.
This photo of an orangutan in a zoo. It’s so clear that the orangutan should not be there, standing on his two legs, it stirs emotion. I think that’s why it defines me. It’s a photo that not only gives you context about ecology, it also makes you look twice, and makes you question yourself and our place in the world as human beings.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m an intersectional conservationist, approaching conservation from the perspective of an ecologist, a photojournalist and storyteller, while trying to see these issues in context of their social ecosystems. I always call myself a conservationist first and photographer second since I got into photography from a biology background. My love of nature and wildlife drives me, and photography happens to be my chosen medium for wanting to protect it.
I’m also EurAsian, I come from a mixed European-Asian background and grew up in many countries. This is another reason I felt compelled to be in photojournalism and photography because I found that many of the conversations that we’re having around environmentalism are coming from the same, almost neo-colonialist, perspective. Especially around the issues that I care deeply about like the wildlife trade. I felt that people were really pointing their fingers toward certain cultures and communities of people that they either just didn’t even try to understand, or just weren’t granting enough cultural empathy to different traditions, ways of thinking, and ways of life… which doesn’t do these issues justice and is ultimately an obstacle to progress. So that’s another big reason why I wanted to go into the storytelling element of conservation.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
Well, I think Girls Who Click is just the most wonderful organization. I really see it like a little family and it represents what I think is the most important thing we need to do as women in this industry, and that is collaboration, connection, and supporting each other.
It’s also such an incredible opportunity to have a mentor, which is especially valuable in the photography industry. I talk about representation a lot, and how you don’t understand how bad it feels to not have representation until you finally do have representation. To feel seen and welcome in the community, or at least see a little bit of myself in somebody out there is so helpful. There’s almost no representation for women, particularly women of color in our industry. So I thought I’d apply and see if I could connect with someone who I might not have come across before that could act as that role model for me.
Through this mentorship, I’m hoping to achieve a sense of community, to grow as a person and a photographer, and to be held accountable to my growth. I’m also doing a degree at the same time, and it’s really quite easy to put this part of my life on the back burner.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
She’s the most fantastic human being. Her name is Amy Marquis and we have so much in common from our values to our experiences as women of color. She’s a filmmaker, but also actively stands up for her principles and what she believes in, which is really inspiring. Her background in film has also encouraged me to think about different mediums to approach the same conversations. So I’m super happy and grateful to have connected with her.
I think the program has helped me in providing community and support, having representation, and having this mentor. It means so much to me in terms of how I view myself in this industry now and where I see myself going in my career.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I’m doing a master’s degree in tropical forest ecology focusing my research on acoustic ecology, which has been great but is also consuming my day-to-day. I’ve been trying to develop a story that I started during the pandemic that I could do from the UK but haven’t had the time to fully pursue. It’s one of those things where you’re sitting on an idea for a while and you have some photos…but with London in lockdown for the last four months and being a full-time grad student, you’re limited by what you can do. Let’s just say that I’m brewing the ideas but also allowing myself to rest considering this chaotic year.
This photo was taken earlier this year under a trash can I stopped at during a hike in one of Northern California’s many redwood forests. My family and I had recently moved to California, which was quickly followed by a lot of bad news. This new period of my life was filled with stress and many mental challenges. I would find myself going outside less and less, but one day I needed to get out of the house. It was cold and rainy, but this didn’t stop me from going on a hike and bringing my camera along. At the top of my hike, I noticed a newt wander under a trash can. Placing my camera on the ground, I was able to pick up so much color in comparison to the rainy grey day I had been looking at. It taught me that sometimes you have to look at the world from a different perspective and this day added a lot of color into my life during this difficult period.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a 17 year old from Colorado who really enjoys the outdoors and working around wildlife. At the young age of six, I told everyone I wanted to be an entomologist when I grew up. Even though bugs aren’t my favorite thing in the world anymore, I’ve always known that I want to do work involving the natural world in one way or another. I’ve volunteered for a couple different environmental studies and was able to work with a zoo’s outreach team to teach kids about conservation. I have also always been a creative person and am constantly creating drawings and playing music. Nature photography has been a great way for me to connect my creative side with the outdoors, all while showing others what it is that makes wildlife and nature so interesting.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
Being a junior in high school comes with a lot of people asking about where you want to go to college or what career path you want to pursue. With all of these big decisions coming up, I wanted to learn more about some of the directions I could go in. Up until I applied, wildlife photography had been a hobby that I didn’t take super seriously. Since applying, I’ve been learning how to take my photography to the next level and about different opportunities to look out for.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you so far?
I’ve been working with Karine Aigner. It’s been amazing to hear her story, which is helping me learn how to make connections. She has critiqued many of my photos and helped me decide on which photos to enter into contests. I’m also new to using a DSLR camera and Karine has been an amazing resource for learning about different gear and camera settings. The program is also connecting me to a lot of amazing like-minded people.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I just spent the last eight months in California and now I’m back in Colorado. So far, I’ve had good luck finding a few different species of owls. This summer, I’ll be able to document multiple nests and the behaviors these birds show when raising families. When I go back to California later this summer, I want to begin focusing more on the many different reptiles and amphibians in the area.
If you had asked me a year ago, I’d never have envisioned myself in a full set of scuba gear, beaming in the surf at La Jolla. This photo was taken last month, shortly after I’d earned my advanced diver certification. It reminds me that I have the potential to do things that scare me, and often those scary things are actually the most enjoyable.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I grew up in Huntington Beach, California, and earned my bachelor’s degree in Film Production at UCLA. After working as a director and cinematographer for a few years, I found my dream job, working as a wildlife photographer on a whale watch boat, where I got to photograph whales and dolphins every day. When the pandemic hit, I was furloughed, and I have used this time to earn my 100 ton captain’s license, and try scuba diving for the very first time. It turns out I love being underwater, and I’ve been diving every chance I can get. I now have my advanced open water certification, and I’m currently working toward my divemaster credential, as well as expanding my body of underwater photography.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
I applied to GWC because I was feeling very directionless, as I was jobless in the midst of the pandemic. While I had the wildlife photography skill set, I felt that I was lacking a network of contacts and wasn’t sure where to turn for help. Through the program, I am hoping to build connections with like-minded, powerful women whose aim is to support one another in the pursuit of conservation photography. If it results in me finding paid work in this field, all the better!
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
My mentor is Brenda Tharp, and I am overjoyed to have her as a mentor and a friend. Knowing that I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go with my photography, she has given me space and support to test my strengths. Brenda has helped me to hone my focus into specific areas, so I can sharpen those skills and define myself better as an artist. She has also been essential in quelling my self doubt and encouraging me to do things outside of my comfort zone.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I’m diving every day that the weather will allow me to! Working on my underwater photography and videography has been such a fun challenge, and I’m currently on the lookout for interesting underwater animal behaviors in order to shoot a short film. That being said, I’m really excited for when I can travel again- I haven’t had the joy of diving in warm water yet!
This image I think really reflects my photography because it not only shows how far I’ve come, but is a place and subject that I love. I tend to call myself a wildlife photographer, but I’ve been so enraptured by the universe since a very young age that I can’t forget about the astrophotography I long to do. Unfortunately, there is way too much light pollution in my area to get clear images of the Milky Way; this photo was taken in Yosemite Valley back in October 2020. I just think the colors and lighting are gorgeous and this is one of my personal favorite images by far.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Daphne, and I’m finishing up my junior year of high school in Northern California. I’m still undecided on what exactly I want to do in college, but I’ve always loved STEM and nature, so likely something astronomy or biology related. I actually first got into photography because of my love for nature and the critters within it. Now, I’ve been a wildlife and nature photographer for about four years!
2. Why did you apply to GWC? What are you hoping to achieve?
I applied to GWC because I’ve never really had professional feedback on my work. My cousin mentored me initially, and although he takes stunning, professional photographs and has built up quite the following on Instagram, he still had high school to focus on.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
I got to attend one GWC workshop before COVID shut down in-person activities, which is where I met my mentor, Suzi Eszterhas. She and I connected out in the field and realized we live in the same town. We kept in touch after the workshop, and when the Girls Who Click Ambassador Program was announced, I was super excited to apply and she encouraged me to as well. Since then, she has taught me a lot about how to diversify my composition and edit. We also have created a few different portfolios of varying sizes and subjects to help me with future photography enterprises.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
On Instagram, I am working on a color feed to try and keep editing. I haven’t had very many photography opportunities this year, but Suzi and I came up with a project to keep me actively taking photographs: an eye project! I’ve always been fascinated by all the beautiful shapes and colors that eyes reflect on the outside, so I’m working on a portfolio of different species’ eyes.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next installment of this series.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity
Written by Alice Sun
Growing up, Alice’s dream was to become a National Geographic photographer. This passion led her to spend much of her high school years photographing and sharing stories of wildlife in her own backyard, which earned her a spot in the 2016 NANPA High School Scholarship Program. She then went on to pursue a degree in environmental biology and a graduate certificate in environmental visual communication, sharpening her skills and building a foundation for a career in visual storytelling. Today, she is a freelance science communicator and conservation storyteller based in Vancouver, Canada. Inspiring young people to pursue the same dream she had is something that Alice is passionate about, and why she’s extremely be on the Girls Who Click team! Visit Alice’s website (alicesun.ca) to see the stories she has told over the years.
Welcome to Part 2 of our GWC Ambassador series, where we learn about the stories of the amazing young women in this program, and get a peek at all the exciting things they’ve been up to.
We’ll be posting more of these blogs throughout this year. Check out Part 1 of the series here.
Featured in this blog
Alejandra Potter (mentor: Susan McElhinney)
Elie Gordon (mentor: Ami Vitale)
Beth Hotchkiss (mentor: Cathy Hart)
Katie Waddington (mentor: Alyce Bender)
Alejandra Potter
I think this photo best defines what my life has looked like in the past few years working in ocean conservation. I also think it represents part of my nature and personality. Always curious, always ready for action, unafraid to do whatever is necessary to do my job. As it was usual, I was getting ready to jump in the water and film the animals inside the nets of an industrial fishing vessel. Little did we know we were about to find out there was a whale shark inside that net, and we would spend the next three hours helping to release it and make sure it swam away safe and sound. I had never seen a whale shark before, and all of a sudden I was touching one. Although the circumstances were not ideal, it was an amazing experience and a day I remember fondly.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I was born and raised in Barcelona, a bustling big city, but my head was constantly daydreaming of far-away wild places. My way to connect with wildlife was through the TV screen. So anytime I had a chance, I would watch nature documentaries, which only fueled my passion. I was the type of kid who drove my mom crazy by always showing up at the house with an injured bird or a turtle, who always caught bugs to put them under a microscope and who was known as a ‘walking animal encyclopedia’.
I wanted to be a zoologist, but at the time it wasn’t a career per-se in Spain. I ended up getting a college degree in Audiovisual Communication, hoping to be able to get close to animals with a camera and bring them closer to the public. My motto has always been “if I got to care so much about wild animals through a screen, I can help others feel the same by bringing them closer to the public.”
Soon after getting my degree I joined Sea Shepherd Global, an ocean conservation NGO. I was a camera operator for the TV show “Ocean Warriors“, which aired on Animal Planet. The footage was then used to create the award-winning documentary “Chasing the Thunder“. After that, I decided to remain on board their ships as their photographer/videographer, where I traveled around the world and documented the NGO’s actions in the fight against poaching and IUU fishing, mostly around west Africa.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
During a Sea Shepherd campaign in Liberia, I met Karine Aigner. She is one the mentors of this program. I heard about Girls Who Click through her and her Instagram page. She encouraged me to sign up for it, and I’m so glad I did! Girls Who Click has offered a sense of community I had never experienced before. Being part of this team of incredibly inspiring women is a privilege.
I am pretty much self-taught when it comes to photography and filming. I have been a bit lost in how to continue to get involved in wildlife/conservation photography and videography, professionally. What pushed me to apply was feeling stuck in my career, not knowing how to take the next step, who to reach and how. I felt this program could help guide me through constructive criticism, bettering my skills, and connecting me with professionals in the industry. I hope I will be able to achieve my long-term goal of being involved with documenting wildlife and conservation projects. I am eager to find a project that I can collaborate or get involved with.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you so far?
My mentor is Susan McElhinney. She is an amazing editor. I have been learning a lot from her feedback and constructive criticism as she has offered a unique insight on certain technical things like my composition and post-processing, to make my images more appealing to editors. I had never had my images reviewed by an editor or gotten constructive criticism from one, so I am grateful for what I am learning with her.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I moved to the US two years ago and had to spend most of my time waiting to get a Green Card. Almost immediately after I got it, the pandemic hit. Photography and videography have been hard this past year, so at the moment I am trying to find a story to document, and trying to find wildlife/conservation professionals or organizations to get involved with. Other than that, I am always learning and taking online courses on things I find interesting.
This photo was taken in the Lake District in October 2020. I’m happiest when I’m outdoors walking and hiking, dog and camera in tow, exploring the wilderness and finding pure joy in nature. I love to snap wildlife in its wildest form—birds flitting through hedgerows, foxes scavenging for food, coots fighting in the water, and just being outdoors teaches me so much about the world around us.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I grew up in a heavily concreted London suburb where nature and wildlife wasn’t always a given. Thankfully, I had a back garden and a mother who encouraged us to get outside as much as possible, and I was able to hold on to the childhood curiosity for nature that’s in all of us from a young age.
I came to photography quite late after discovering a love for the garden birds that visited throughout the year. I started reading up on different species’ migration patterns, behaviours, and favourite foods, and used this information to attract them to the garden and share my photography from home.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
I was actually encouraged to apply by another ambassador. It was a brilliant opportunity to connect with other women in photography and hopefully broaden my horizons. Photography has been a hobby of mine and I want to be able to take it a step further and start to tell stories through photography. I use my social platform to encourage other POC to get involved in the outdoors, and hopefully photography can be another way to achieve this.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you so far?
My mentor is Ami Vitale, who has been an inspiration to me for years. I feel completely honoured to have her as my mentor as she’s had such an amazing career. Being in lockdown pretty much solidly for the past year has got me down, but she’s given me the confidence to get outside and ‘just do it’. To go and take photographs and be comfortable in the outdoors.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I work full time in digital media for Atmos, a climate and culture magazine, so I try to get out with my camera as much as possible on the weekends. I’ve just moved houses, so I’m excited to explore the local area, find the best wildlife spots, and to start working on the garden to turn it into a wildlife haven!
When I was 13 I was asked to take a self-portrait as part of a school assignment. I took a picture of a pizza with the pepperonis arranged in the shape of a smiley face. Looking back, I totally nailed that assignment! Today, I would only make one slight modification- drop the meat but keep all the cheeze. I am definitely a big cheezeball at my core who loves to laugh and have a good time.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Throughout my life, I’ve been constantly “learning by doing”, seeking opportunities to engage in engineering projects, cultural dialogues, and even improv comedy! What drives me is my desire to create an impact, because I believe the best way to tackle today’s wickedest problems is through an interdisciplinary, collaborative, approach.
After graduating from college, I’ve spent the last couple of years working for the State of California, supporting equity and environmental resilience efforts across the state. Through my job, I’ve seen how the stories we tell can shape policies and practices. Moving forward, I would like to leverage my photography skills to affect positive change in California and beyond. I am particularly interested in environmental storytelling since the health of the land and water systems we are collectively supported by will greatly influence the ability of current and future generations to thrive.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
One day, as I was scrolling through my instagram feed, I stumbled across a post that caught my attention. It featured a girl on a mountain, focused on her camera, with a sunstar shining across her pack. It read “Become an Ambassador. #GirlsWhoClick“
I don’t know whether it was the sense of adventure that drew me to the photo or perhaps the camera set on the tripod. Maybe I was just power hungry and the word “Ambassador” sounded pretty neat to me. Either way, something resonated and I just had to learn more.
As I read up on the program, I realized that this opportunity could help me strengthen my voice, photography, and impact. Also, perhaps more importantly, it could provide a venue for connecting with other women who believe in the power of visual storytelling to improve our collective environment. As I participate in this program, I hope to engage with the Girls Who Click community and grow into a more thoughtful change-maker.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
My mentor is the amazing Cathy Hart! She has been instrumental in helping me understand how to craft a photo-story and connecting me with folks in the photography world. I am very inspired by her ability to build lasting relationships with others and hope to mirror that in my personal and professional life. Cathy’s guidance, in addition to the amazing work I’ve been exposed to by fellow GWC ambassadors, has accelerated my growth and motivated me to work toward my goals.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
Right now, I am on a three month journey traveling along the Pacific Coast (California, Oregon, Washington). At each spot, I’m learning about the local environment and conservation activities. I am excited to compare and contrast the issues and solutions I see happening across state lines. With Cathy’s guidance, I plan to share my insights through photo-stories and blog posts.
This European paper wasp is one of many animals that I photographed in France over 2 years. The project was to get as many images as I could of the wildlife that I could find in my backyard. What I love about the project, and now the book that I am creating, is that it is a reminder that we have incredible and diverse species right on our doorstep. I hope to inspire others to appreciate and protect their local wildlife that can sometimes be overlooked. Small actions can help repopulate certain creatures such as planting wildflowers in your garden for insects. This photograph defines what I hope to achieve as a wildlife photographer, which is to give a voice to the smaller creatures.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a wildlife photographer and videographer with a keen eye for detail, specialising in macro and micro photography. I was born and raised in France, where my fascination for smaller creatures began. I moved to England a few years ago for my photography studies. It has allowed me to learn new skills and use specialised equipment for my images. Most of my projects revolve around capturing visually striking and vibrant photographs of insects up close. It is hard to get people to engage with insects, I therefore use my images as conversation starters to discuss the undeniable importance of insects for our ecosystems.
2. Why did you apply to GWC? What are you hoping to achieve?
I applied to be a GWC Ambassador because, as much as my studies have helped with my technique, I wanted to learn more from professionals in the field as to how I could establish myself as a woman in the world of nature photography. Having a mentor that can guide you and motivate you to do the best work you can is invaluable. I hope that by being a GWC Ambassador, I will grow in confidence and start networking with people that are just as passionate as I am about our wildlife.
3. Who is your mentor? How has the program helped you?
My mentor is Alyce Bender. She is extremely talented and easily approachable. I can send her any questions I have about what I am working on and she will get back to me quite quickly. We have monthly zoom meet up sessions where we discuss anything from how I am feeling during these hard times to how my photography can improve. She also sends me useful links to other wildlife photographers I should look at, as well as competitions I might find interesting. It is an incredible feeling that there is someone I can rely on to support me and my photography ambitions.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
At the moment I am in the process of creating a book called “Our Hidden Neighbours”. It is based around the wildlife I found in my garden and nearby meadow. I have spent every summer for the past 2 years travelling home to see my family in the South West of France and going out under the blazing heat of a summer’s day to photograph the animals that are hidden in plain sight.
The book is in the ‘Meet Your Neighbours’ style of photography. I’ve fallen in love with this style as it is a way of capturing an image of the natural world without destroying it and also placing the wellbeing of the animals first. Instead of taking the animals and placing them in a studio, I take the studio to them! This allows me to represent what these fascinating creatures look like in their natural habitat whilst keeping the focus solely on them. It feels extremely rewarding to see all my hard work start to pay off. The beauty of the images do justice to these intriguing animals.
I’m also now in charge of the Meet Your Neighbours’s Instagram account. It allows me to keep promoting the technique and showcasing other people’s work from around the world. I’m really keen on continuing to connect people through the love of wildlife and photography.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next installment of this series.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity
Written by Alice Sun
Growing up, Alice’s dream was to become a National Geographic photographer. This passion led her to spend much of her high school years photographing and sharing stories of wildlife in her own backyard, which earned her a spot in the 2016 NANPA High School Scholarship Program. She then went on to pursue a degree in environmental biology and a graduate certificate in environmental visual communication, sharpening her skills and building a foundation for a career in visual storytelling. Today, she is a freelance science communicator and conservation storyteller based in Vancouver, Canada. Inspiring young people to pursue the same dream she had is something that Alice is passionate about, and why she’s extremely be on the Girls Who Click team! Visit Alice’s website (alicesun.ca) to see the stories she has told over the years.
Above photo: Amy Marquis on set for a feminist art film project in the River North art district in Denver. Photo by Jason Houston.
By now, we understand the need to cultivate diversity in conservation photography and filmmaking. Scientific analyses urge diversity across multiple disciplines. Countless articles criticize and dissect the lack of minorities in photography. Conversations like #blacklivesmatter are rising in volume.
So why do we still have a diversity problem in nature photography? A large part of it is because we don’t quite understand it. We don’t know how to begin. We don’t know how to address things without the situation becoming uncomfortable. We don’t know how to take action.
That’s why for this blog post, we sat down with GWC partner photographers Inka Cresswell, Karen Kasmauski, and Amy Marquis, and GWC Ambassador Celina Chien, to talk about the issue, their experiences as women of color, and specific actions that we all can take to create a more inclusive environment.
1. See the bigger problem
We’re at a point right now where the photography industry is shifting. Most people want to help solve the problem, as buzzwords like diversity and inclusion get tossed around. But what we often miss is that biases are everywhere.
For example, let’s explore Karen’s experience with exclusion in today’s digital era.
“The issue that I’m finding right now has nothing to do with my ethnic background, it has to do with my age.” she said. “I feel like I have to not ever say how old I am. I have to always act like I can do whatever it takes, and I just think that has to do with the changing technology. There’s just a perception that the digital world is for the younger generation.”
And the barriers Karen face go deeper than just appearances. Through our talk, Karen showed that everywhere we look, there are siloes. She talked about the challenges of switching from Japanese culture photography to global health photography. She talked about how she wanted to transfer from photography to management and hiring, but was shut out. “We have a hard time seeing people beyond what they’re known for.” she said.
Why? Our perceptions are shaped by the things we hear growing up. They’re shaped by people we surround ourselves with. They’re shaped by narratives that are seared into our brain by society, and kept in place by ancient systems. We need to understand that exclusion, such as racism, are not isolated incidents. It’s ingrained in the system we live in.
“We have a hard time seeing people beyond what they’re known for.”
– Karen Kasmauski
2. Look at yourself
So how can we change something that’s embedded in our unconscious and our society? It starts with ourselves.
Amy Marquis explained: “I spent the first 20 years of my career seeking acceptance and validation from my white peers and superiors. It’s the game most emerging filmmakers, regardless of race, feel like they have to play. And as a result, we often do a terrible job of checking ourselves.”
She talks about how the BLM uprising in June 2020 forced her to reexamine her own blind spots as a filmmaker working within the nature/adventure/conservation space. Even though her focus has always been to amplify underrepresented stories from BIPOC communities, she was rarely hiring BIPOC crew. They simply weren’t visible in her immediate circle. She realized that in doing this, she was perpetuating the system of white supremacy, not to mention the usually well-intentioned yet undeniably colonialist behavior of all-white crews striding into non-white communities and making a career— and potentially even a profit— off of BIPOC struggles.
“I had this amazing opportunity to take full responsibility for my actions,” Amy says. “And it meant dealing first and foremost with my own white fragility— which, as a half-Indonesian adopted into white America, and encouraged from a young age to assimilate into white culture— felt extra confusing to unpack. Once I understood it, and forgave myself for it, my own personal path to dismantling the system became crystal clear. I’ve since learned to see myself as an unapologetically BIPOC filmmaker who can use my films to encourage hard conversations about racism and help guide my white community onto a more conscious path.”
She goes on to say: “Once we learn to stop blaming others for our emotional struggles, and choose to take full responsibility for our own behavior, we become aware of what we as individuals have the power to disrupt. It’s a life lesson that extends well beyond just filmmaking and photography.”
So look within yourself. Have uncomfortable conversations. Listen, ask questions, talk to all sorts of people. Because chances are, you have your own biases, and the only way to un-learn them is to know where they are, and actively create new definitions.
“Once we learn to stop blaming others for our emotional struggles, and choose to take full responsibility for our own behavior, we become aware of what we as individuals have the power to disrupt. It’s a life lesson that extends well beyond just filmmaking and photography.”
– Amy Marquis
3. Empower the next generation
“When we talk about diversity and inclusion, we’re talking about it too late.” said Inka Cresswell.
But, a lot of conversations are missing a key point, the youth.
“We need to be empowering people at that young age when they are a teenager,” said Inka, “when they have their first opportunity to pick up a camera or are getting involved in science and thinking about what kind of career they want to pursue.”
Think about it. We all had those experiences early in our lives that shaped who we are today. Whether it was a grade-school teacher that saw your potential. Or it was a local nature walk that inspired your love for animals and conservation. Or maybe it was your parents who gave you your first camera. We all got our start somewhere.
Now imagine if those opportunities were taken away. Would you still be an advocate for conservation? Would you still be a nature photographer?
That’s why creating opportunities for all youth to learn about the environment and photography is an important action to take. Without it, we lose a whole suite of voices before we even get to the hiring process.
“When we talk about diversity and inclusion, we’re talking about it too late.”
– Inka Cresswell
4. Diversify editors
Photography is a complex interconnected system, and a vicious cycle. Success in this field is heavily dependent on connections and networking, as most jobs aren’t advertised on formal job boards. Instead, photographers get pushed up the ranks through mentorships and connections. Editors hire who they know. Opportunities go to the people who are most conveniently placed within this network. Stories that get published are from the same perspectives, shown to the same people who want to hear the same things.
So instead of just asking “how we can include more diverse photographers?”, we need to start looking at diversity in the bigger picture, and work from there.
For example, Karen emphasized the importance of diverse editors.
“To me, the call of action is not having more diverse photographers. It is having more diverse editors.” she said, “You’ve got to have people who are running the show to be diverse. The people who are doing the hiring have to be diverse. Because as a photographer, you have no real power.“
Photo editors and the leaders in conservation are essentially gatekeepers of nature photography. They get to decide what stories and how an environmental story is portrayed. They are the ones who decide which photographers are going to get the opportunities that propel them to success. So having diverse editors who are connected to diverse photographers and who are open to unique perspectives on issues is a big step in the right direction.
“You’ve got to have people who are running the show to be diverse. The people who are doing the hiring have to be diverse. Because as a photographer, you have no real power.“
– Karen Kasmauski
5. Diversify at all levels
Another example is fostering diversity in the STEM industry, and breaking barriers there.
“[Young photographers and filmmakers breaking into conservation careers] have to get through not only their undergrad, but possibly also through grad school to be in a position where they are qualified for an entry level role.” said Inka, “so if you’re only addressing diversity at that entry level or management position in the professional world, you’re not going to have many applicants, because we’ve lost them at stage one, early education.” We need to address diversity at “all levels”.
But what if you’re not a scientist? Great question. As storytellers, there is one thing that we can all do, and that is to foster diversity in the voices and stories that we tell.
Inka explained how she does this in her work:
“Whenever I’m traveling abroad, if possible, I try to give back to that local community in some way. Whether that’s giving a conservation talk to local kids or in the local dive shop that’s put online and advertised that anyone can attend. I think we have a duty to share our knowledge.”
She’s right. As conservation storytellers, we have a duty to share our message. So that they can be passed on, become someone else’s message, someone else’s story. We can break the cycle.
“Whenever I’m traveling abroad, if possible, I try to give back to that local community in some way…I think we have a duty to share our knowledge.”
– Inka Cresswell
6. Actively reach out, and lift each other up
“I was talking to one of the world’s most prestigious photo competitions about [diversity] because they notoriously have very few women featured in their exhibition featured as winners. And so they’re asking me ‘what can we do?’. And I said ‘you have to actively invite women.’” said Celina Chien.
Usually, it’s not enough to just say “I’m in favor of diversity”, and hope that photographers come to you. If you really want to make change, you have to put in the effort.
For example, one of the biggest complaints that editors have when cultivating diversity is that they aren’t able to find diverse photographers. They don’t exist, they would say.
However, when Brent Lewis and Andrea Wise posted a call specifically asking for photographers of colour in 2017, he received over a one thousand five hundred responses. (Read more in this New York Times blog)
That’s why initiatives like Diversify Photo and Her Wild Vision have also started photography directories, for black and women photographers, respectively, and push back on this problem.
But it’s doing that not only as an organization, but also as an individual.
Change starts from you. As individuals, we all have the capacity to inspire and lift up the ones around us. In the diversity sense, that means making an effort to get to know photographers from all backgrounds, and reaching out to them personally to encourage them to apply to programs and photo contests. It means bringing along a friend who might not have the same opportunities as you when a photo or filming gig arises. It means putting your friend forward when you have conversations with higher management like a photo editor or director of an NGO. It means letting them know that they are wanted and needed. That they deserve to be seen and heard.
Because it’s all about collaboration, and lifting each other up. Only then, can we really start fostering a diverse community. As Celina said: “Everything is always made better if you do it all together.”
“Everything is always made better if you do it all together.”
– Celina Chien
7. Embrace your own voice
A large part of finding your career in photography is finding your voice. We preferentially are drawn to particular narratives.
However, many will lose their voices along the way, and say what’s always been said. Because that’s what gets published.
So for this last action, here are some wise words from Amy Marquis:
“Don’t be ashamed of who you are— white, BIPOC, female, trans, whatever. Denying your own identity is to deny the diversity of thought and experiences and creativity and unique perspectives that humanity must learn to celebrate and pool in order to rise above these insane global challenges right now. Stop believing that you have to shapeshift to fit old and outdated pieces of this industry to be successful. Maybe it worked for some people, but at what cost?”
So find your own voice. Break the status quo. Embrace your own diversity, and empower others to do so as well.
“Stop believing that you have to shapeshift to fit old and outdated pieces of this industry to be successful. Maybe it worked for some people, but at what cost?”
– Amy Marquis
Conclusion
Diversity, racism, and systemic disparities are enormous topics, which we can’t exactly cover fully within this blog post. But hopefully, with these few actionable items, this will help your journey in creating a more inclusive environment for all photographers and storytellers.
Check out these organizations that are encouraging diversity
Diversify Photo, an organization devoted to “creating a place where people can come and see photographers of color, to know they are out there and they exist, and to provide editors with the ability to find people not in their circles.”
Photographers Without Borders: a community of photographers/filmmakers that are aiming to make storytelling more accessible for communities around the world who are contributing to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and UNDRIP.
Girls Who Click: We’ve been working to close the gender gap by providing mentorship and workshops to young girls. This year we also created our Ambassador Program, which targets female and female identified photographers of diverse cutlural and socio-economic backgrounds. The program pairs these young photographers from all over the world with an experienced mentor, and helps them gain professional knowledge of the photography field.
Women Photograph: a website that highlights the work of female editorial photographers with at least five years of working experience.
Her Wild Vision: a searchable directory that makes it easy for editors to find and hire women and women-identifying photographers/filmmakers in conservation and environment.
Wild Idea Lab: a membership community where conservation visual storytellers find creativity, community and support for their wildest work. Wild Idea Lab offers a partial-scholarship program, which provides a reduced membership rate to photographers and filmmakers who are underrepresented in conservation visual storytelling and have a financial barrier to joining.
We encourage you to add more in the comments, and to keep learning as you continue on this journey.
Written by Alice Sun
Growing up, Alice’s dream was to become a National Geographic photographer. This passion led her to spend much of her high school years photographing and sharing stories of wildlife in her own backyard, which earned her a spot in the 2016 NANPA High School Scholarship Program. She then went on to pursue a degree in environmental biology and a graduate certificate in environmental visual communication, sharpening her skills and building a foundation for a career in visual storytelling. Today, she is a freelance science communicator and conservation storyteller based in Vancouver, Canada. Inspiring young people to pursue the same dream she had is something that Alice is passionate about, and why she’s extremely be on the Girls Who Click team! Visit Alice’s website (alicesun.ca) to see the stories she has told over the years.
Back in November 2020, we launched the Girls Who Click Ambassador Program! Our 2021 inaugural year collaboration features 24 talented young photographers/filmmakers from a variety of backgrounds, and from all around the world, with professional women who have been successful in these creative fields. It’s been incredibly inspiring to get to know some of these young women and to see them grow in these past couple months.
We wanted to share this inspiration with you, so we’re sitting down with all of our Ambassadors to learn about their story and the amazing things they’ve been doing. This is part 1 of the series, and we’ll be featuring more throughout the year. Enjoy!
Featured in this blog:
Angelica Mills (mentor: Mary Ann McDonald)
Aishwarya Sridhar (mentor: Jennifer Leigh Warner)
Kate Vylet (mentor: Michele Westmorland)
Alice Sun (mentor: Mary Ann McDonald)
Angelica Mills
I am happiest while working with my passion project – children in the wilderness, being out in the African bush, surrounded by gentle giants and teaching rural children the importance of conservation and relevance it has in their lives. I believe that environmental education is the future of conservation and protecting our wilderness areas for future generations to come.
The image was taken at our last camps hosted by Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, in December 2019.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I was born and raised in South Africa, with nature all around me. My real passion as a kid has always been conservation. But when I was younger, I thought conservation was a really difficult degree, so I went the opposite way of going into tourism. I studied for a tourism degree in 2015, which landed me a job as a travel consultant for a photographic tourism company.
While working for this company, I got exposed to a program called Children in the Wilderness, and that just sparked everything for me. I call it my passion project. The program promotes sustainable conservation through leadership. They teach the rural kids living in or bordering game reserves about things like why it’s so important to conserve wildlife and exposing them to tourism related jobs. I’ve been volunteering for them since 2017. It’s absolutely incredible working with the kids and realizing the difference you make. That made me want to get back into conservation.
As you can tell, I’ve got an intense passion for Africa, the communities, and wildlife photography has become like a big part of my life. That has all inspired me to make a career out of it.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
So interestingly enough, I actually met Suzi just before I started volunteering for Children in the Wilderness. I was helping one my colleagues in Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana to manage the photo concession. One morning, I had to go with Suzi into one of the photo hides. We got to talking and I learned about GWC. And last year, my colleague, who is actually one of the mentors Janet Kleyn, encouraged me to apply to the Ambassador Program.
I think what drew me into the program was the community that it offers. I wanted the right kind of guidance and support structure. I want to be a conservation storyteller, but I need guidance. I need constructive criticism. I need somebody who’s going to help push me and connect me with like-minded individuals.
I also feel like this program will help me make a difference in other people’s lives. Right now, I’m taking all these photos, but I’m not doing anything with it. And I actually want to do something with it. I want to make a difference in programs like Children in the Wilderness. I hope that through this program, I’ll be able to achieve my long-term goal of being an accomplished wildlife photographer, and start making a real difference through my photography and projects that I’m passionate about.
3. How has the program helped you?
Mary Ann McDonald, my mentor, is incredible. She gives me constructive criticism on my photographs and then she tells me what I need to improve on them. She helps me to focus on technical things like my composition, things that I’m lacking because I’m pretty much a self-taught photographer. It’s invaluable, the information I’m getting from her. And she’s already mentioned these people that she would like to reach out to and connect me with.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I’m currently busy with my nature guiding qualification! I really want to live and work in the Bush, and I think lockdown kind of forced me now to look within and actually do something about it.
I’ve been doing classes since the 13th of January. I’m currently doing the theory component, which are online classes that give me a broader understanding of wildlife and the natural environment. I’ve got my exam in March, and if I pass that, then I can go do my practical and then I’ll be a qualified nature guide.
I think this picture best defines my bond with nature and wildlife…The blue bull is the largest Asian antelope and I had somehow struck a friendship with this male. When he finally trusted me enough to come close and allowed me to nuzzle him, I realized that wild animals are also capable of understanding friendship. I have always been someone who enjoys the outdoors and every waking moment that I spend with these wild animals, is one that I cherish for a lifetime.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am a wildlife filmmaker and photographer from India. My love for photography started when I saw my first wild tiger when I was 10 years old. My dad is a member of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), and he used to take me for wildlife trips. I really wanted to do something that would preserve the memories of those trips, and photography seemed the best option. My dad gifted me a camera for my 11th birthday. And after that, it became my favorite toy. I used to carry it to all my adventures.
After my 10th standard board exams, I felt that I would not be suitable for a desk job and have a routine kind of life. The media and watching National Geographic documentaries was something which I really enjoyed, so I had this dream that one day I wanted my films or my photos to also be on National Geographic. I decided to work towards that more seriously after graduation, and that’s how I got into photography and filmmaking full-time.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
One of my friends, a senior in the industry in India in wildlife photography, sent me the application for the Ambassador Program. I checked out the rules, and I found it extremely interesting. It was something where I could get to connect with fellow wildlife photographers from around the globe, as well as have a dedicated, personal mentor who I could turn to whenever I needed any help.
I’m someone who’s learned photography from the internet, so I’ve had no formal training in this whole world of photography and filmmaking. I felt that the program would definitely help in my career’s progress. If I have a person mentoring me who could help me achieve this dream of working with National Geographic, and I could get to connect and network with a lot of senior professionals in this industry, it would be a great opportunity.
3. How has the program helped you so far?
My mentor, Jennifer Leigh Warner, she’s also a wildlife photographer. She’s based in the US and she’s very sweet. In fact, we’ve had four meetings up to now and she’s extremely helpful. I can put any queries anytime that I have to her either on WhatsApp or email. We also have this little community on her website, where she has a chat room for both of us. She posts stuff that I need to look at there. She’s given me some assignments as well, and she’s helping me build my portfolio and teaching me how to put together a conservation story.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
My film is releasing! It’s called “Tiger Queen of Taru”, and it’s coming on Nat Geo Wild (not in North America unfortunately). So that’s something I’m really excited about.
This is a yellowfin fringehead I took during a photo contest a few years back. They’re one of my favorite little fish – they’re very small and sneaky, hiding in crevices with only their heads peeking out to spy for passing food. When you spend some time watching them, you see how different their individual personalities are – some are shy while others are bold, some will emerge and investigate while others will hunker back and hide. I guess I can relate to their cryptic yet curious nature, which I think this shot depicts. And I mean look at that fabulous hairdo, some subconscious hair envy must be going on as well, ha.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m an underwater photographer and videographer based in Monterey Bay, California. I’ve been into photography for a very long time, and have had a love for photographing birds and bugs since when I was a little kid that just kept developing as I grew up.
I discovered scuba diving in college, and it was just game over after that. It was just underwater photography and nothing else. I love underwater photography because it’s just this world that no one sees, and so being able to photograph that and bring that to the surface for people to experience is pretty cool.
So I’ve just been shooting like that for the past decade now. Mostly focusing on the kelp forest that we’re lucky to have right here in our backyard.
2. Why did you apply to the Ambassador Program? What are you hoping to achieve?
I met Suzi a while back before Girls Who Click started. We had the same professor at UC Santa Cruz and he introduced us. She was really nice and she invited me to her home to talk about photography. That moment still means a lot to me.
After that, I watched Girls Who Click develop and I was like “Oh, I wish I was young enough to do that. I’m a bit too old now.” And then the Ambassador Program came along, it was just like a no-brainer to get involved in that.
I’ve been doing photography for a long time, but I’ve been kind of lost, I guess, in how to enter it professionally. I know it’s possible. We all see like these professional photographers, but there isn’t a clear entryway into that. So when I saw the program, it just seemed perfect as an opportunity to learn how to get into professional photography.
3. How has the program helped you?
My mentor is Michele Westmorland, who’s a very talented underwater photographer. She’s been awesome. She has a lot of experience in underwater photography and travel, where she has a big project about Papua New Guinea. She’s been kind of guiding me with starting a story that’s based in the kelp forests of Monterey Bay, which is what I’m working on now.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
I’ve never done a full photo story, so I’m pretty excited to be working on that. I have a few side things too, which are kind of on the back burner right now. But I think just getting in the water to get those pictures, and putting a real complete photo story together for the first time, is what I’m excited about right now.
I took this image as a part of a photojournalism project on bird window collisions, as it shows a recently deceased white-throated sparrow with a volunteer from a local conservation group. I think it defines me because this represents the work I want to continue to tell in the future: stories that combine science, conservation, and powerful imagery.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a visual storyteller based on the west coast of Canada. I started photography when I was 11 years old, where I found immense joy in photographing and learning about birds. I photographed all throughout high school and I got accepted into the NANPA High School Scholarship Program. It changed my life, because I never thought nature photography and visual storytelling could be an actual career.
I then went on to study wildlife biology in university, hoping to first make a path in science. But during that, I realized the gap between science and the rest of the world. So I went back into school to pursue visual storytelling as a career, for real this time, first by studying in the Environmental Visual Communications program in Ontario, and now as a science communicator.
2. Why did you apply to GWC? What are you hoping to achieve?
I started out as a blog writer at GWC at the beginning of 2020 (yes I am the one writing this blog. Hello dear reader!). That’s when I got connected with Suzi, who recommended that I apply to the Ambassador Program.
I’ve only started taking visual storytelling more seriously as a career in the past year, so I’m hoping that this program will help guide me on how to take my hobby to a career. Mostly, I hope to, one day, pitch and publish my own conservation story, and break into the photojournalism world.
3. How has the program helped you?
My mentor Mary Ann McDonald has been a great help to me. She pushes me to go after my goals and keeps me accountable (especially important when you’re self-employed). I’m also someone who has a lot of interests, so having someone in the industry that you can talk to about your choices and plans, and get validation, is incredibly empowering.
4. What are you up to now? Anything you’re really excited about?
Photography has been tough with things on lockdown, so at the moment, I’ve been focusing on building my writing and design skills. Writing this blog post, working with Impact Media Lab as a designer, along with some other exciting future posts/side projects, has been one of the ways I’ve been doing that.
Growing up, Alice’s dream was to become a National Geographic photographer. This passion led her to spend much of her high school years photographing and sharing stories of wildlife in her own backyard, which earned her a spot in the 2016 NANPA High School Scholarship Program. She then went on to pursue a degree in environmental biology and a graduate certificate in environmental visual communication, sharpening her skills and building a foundation for a career in visual storytelling. Today, she is a freelance science communicator and conservation storyteller based in Vancouver, Canada. Inspiring young people to pursue the same dream she had is something that Alice is passionate about, and why she’s extremely be on the Girls Who Click team! Visit Alice’s website (alicesun.ca) to see the stories she has told over the years.
Chelsea Mayer (She/Her) grew up in 
