Alex Snyder, a senior photo editor for The Nature Conservancy who helps lead the annual photo contest, grew up exploring Ohio’s state parks and forests. He studied photojournalism at Ohio University and has spent his career capturing the connections between people and nature ever since.
Yeah, I’ve been pretty fortunate. Before coming to TNC, I was the photographer at Peace Corps, which took me to 15 countries to document the volunteer experience. I lead communications for The Photo Society, where I work with over 200 National Geographic photographers and manage an online community of over 4.7 million. And now with TNC, I assign and edit photography that illustrates our organization’s purpose and goals.
We have an innate need to capture and share our reality. If I do my job well, the photos we use and how we present them make people feel real emotions—be it joy, fear, kinship, anger—about what’s happening in the world.
The climate category was new in 2022. Why was it added?
More and more photos were arriving with captions that referenced climate change. In 2021, the first-place winner in the landscape category—an image of a dead Pantanal alligator in a dry riverbed in Brazil by Daniel De Granville Manço—brought home the fact that people are trying to capture the consequences of climate change and how this global crisis is touching down around the world.
What advice would you give to an aspiring photographer?
We have had winners who are professional photographers with expensive gear, and we have had winners who are amateurs that captured something incredible with a smartphone. Use what you have. Be curious, be creative. Everyone has a unique point of view. Show us!
MORE THAN A PRETTY PICTURE
This 2022 photo contest winner is one of Alex’s favorites because it is helping TNC illustrate the complexities of nature and renewable energy. In India’s Chalkewadi plateau, the presence of wind turbines for more than two decades has led to fewer birds of prey and therefore allowed fan-throated lizard populations to increase. But the amount of food available to the lizards hasn’t changed, leading to a lower average weight and changes in the vibrancy of the male’s colorful dewlap. Through the Site Right initiative, TNC is investing in tools that promote renewable energy deployment while minimizing its impacts on wildlife, contributing to a more sustainable future for our climate and habitats.
Related Articles
Capturing Memory and Hope in Alaska
Alaskan artist Linda Infante Lyons brings local people, wildlife and cultural iconography into her work.
Meet Lorette Russenberger and Sara Wilson
Milwaukeeans Lorette Russenberger and Sara Wilson often reflect on how art and nature have been interwoven throughout history.
Painting for the Future
Takeyce Walker has dedicated herself to helping other people, especially children, experience and express the joy and wonder of nature and art.