for work during the pandemic, but several
planned exhibitions around the world were
delayed. As the world (hopefully) starts to
open up again, he plans to continue his
mission to “move people” to action.
“In order to heal this planet, we need to
start with our hearts,” he says. “We get
thousands of ideas every day on how to
be more green: eat vegetarian, do your
recycling... but they’re all just commands.
If you’re going to change something, you
have to feel it inside. If people can rediscover
the incredible beauty of the planet and
reconnect with nature, I think we’ll find
that compassion to care and protect it.”Pro
in
focus
The big question
What does it take
for a photo to
stand out?
“When you look at a photograph, you have
to feel like you haven’t seen this before.
That goes for all art, right? When you see
something, a composition, the light, or
other different things, you have to make
the viewer feel that he or she hasn’t seen
that thing before or had that feeling
before. You also have to have an
emotional connection.
“I see thousands of photos that are
technically perfect, which win amazing
wildlife prize awards, but a lot of times
I just admire them for being technically
well done. I see a snake biting a mouse
or something like that, but there’s no
emotional connection for me. We see so
many perfectly created photos, but you
have to reach the heart, not just the eyes.”Right top: ‘Pride of Africa’,
2018
Right middle: ‘Stripes’, 2018
Right bottom: ‘Nirvana’, 2016
Opposite: ‘The King’, 2016If people can
rediscover the beauty
of the planet, we’ll find
that compassion to
care and protect it
Björn^Persson14 DIGITAL CAMERA^ MARCH 2021 http://www.digitalcameraworld.comHow to get
Björn Persson’s new book
Beauty Will Save the World by Björn Persson (published by
Fri Tanke Förlag) is available via http://www.bjornpersson.nu. It
contains 270 pages with 151 colour and black-and-white photos of wildlife, from Antarctica
to Madagascar. His previous book The Real Owners of the Planet is also available.