Autumn in the Boreal

Folks, life is beautiful sometimes...

After the rather hectic series of actions, I have had the unique opportunity to travel for five days around the Peace River area of northern Alberta. I am accompanied by Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a woman of the Lubicon Cree First Nation as we photograph her homeland. We had already met during my visit in the summer, and this time our mission was far more personal to her: documenting parts of the Boreal forest that are threatened by the encroaching tarsands developments. In essence, our aim is to show what is here and worth protecting.

The Peace River region holds significant tarsands deposits and large tracts of land have assigned (oil company) owners who hold exploration rights to their respective 'blocks'. Thus the gradual destruction of the forest is a fait accompli, however it has yet to happen. So this was a good chance to roam around, venture off the main roads and see for ourselves what sights the forest had in store for us. Our hope is that by showing its beauty, we may help persuade people to help preserve it.

The weather was not being too favourable with us: most days, it snowed, skies were overcast and sunlight only maked rare appearances. As a result, the moments during which it all came together were even more magical, as the beauty and richness of tones and colours sprang to full view only during those few sunlit moments. Here is a selection of images...

Tarsands actions

Hey folks, apologies for the long silence - I've been to Alberta again ! Not that this actually explains very much, but things were a little hectic there, and now I've had some time to upload a small selection of images from recent Greenpeace actions on the tarsands industry. Most of them were shot by either hanging out of a wobbly helicopter, or from the perimeter shooting with a Very Long Lens. A slideshow should run underneath this text...