Sophie Garcia

Sophie Garcia

five Small Ways to Make Your Photography more Earth Friendly

Five Small ways to make your photography more environmentally friendly

    Hi, my name is Sophie — I’m a Native Mexican American photographer who reflects truth and beauty with the light of the stars. If you’re like me, you know that the real solution to climate change is global Indigenous leadership and Land Back. Yet, as nature’s elemental fractals prove — we can all create change in small, consistent ways. Here are five steps you can take to make your photography practice more eco-friendly.

  1. This is a bit niche but if you put glitter on your models, get edible glitter. It is obviously bio-degradable and with this safety, possibilities expand. An example is when I used it to give my model a silver tounge for a conceptual statement about the power of words. We definitely don’t need more sparkly microplastics in our waterways or our bodies.


  2. If you’re a film photographer who knows this please save the snooty eye-roll. The most eco-friendly film developers are Caffenol and Xtol. If you’re ever in a nostalgic hipster or witchy mood, you can make Caffenol and other home brews right in your kitchen. Be sure to check Youtube or ask your local or digital film community for tips!


  3. Props don’t have to be new! In fact, using old, salvaged, and recycled items will give your set texture and depth found in dreams and old films. Even you commercial photographers have to know people don’t resonate with over-polished and sanitized imagery, we want to go back to simpler times, we want integrity, and dammit we want real sh#t!


  4. Support the eco-systems of the locations and people you shoot with, especially if they are connected. I hope I’m just yelling into the void here but don’t crush the endangered flowers. If you’re a photojournalist or street photographer: ask consent from the locals and Natives. Consent practices inform our relationship to the Earth because the bodies of land, water, nature, animals, and humans are HOMES. Respect people’s homes, we are all fighting for our home planet after all.


  5. Embrace the challenges that may come up with eco-consciousness as creative prompts. As artists and walking vessels for ideas there’s already an incredible amount of responsibility in making it happen ethically without the additional implementation of climate awareness. Yet, I’ve seen these accomodations become fun, exhilirating even as they compell out of the box thinking. As my teacher said — “all creativity is problem-solving” and climate change is definitely a problem for us to solve in ways never seen by mankind. Photography is also a younger art form, so who knows you could end up simultaneously revolutionizing and sustaining photography if you experiment enough. What an exciting time to be alive.

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