Greta Rybus, Senegal.

Ellie John
May 13, 2016
3 min read

Greta Rybus is a full time freelance travel and documentary photojournalist. She has a goal to spend one month of every year living and photographing in a new place. In 2015, Rybus spent a month in Senegal, where she documented how climate change is impacting the local people. Rybus’ sensitivity in capturing the relationship between the community and their environment makes for some beautifully poignant images.

Why do you like to document the places you visit?

The camera is such a beautiful way to spend time with someone. When I’m traveling and taking photos, I’m also conducting interviews, sharing meals, observing a workday, asking to learn something.

What motivates you as a photographer?

A few years ago, I was talking with a friend, another photographer, about why we make pictures. He said he photographed out of anger for the injustices in the world. I said that I wanted to make photographs to show how beautiful the world can be. Now, I feel that I am compelled by a combination of the two: a celebration of the beauty of nature and humanity, and outrage for an unfair, broken world. I like to play with those dualities: to investigate the elements of grace within stories of struggle. Many, many times I’ve found myself shedding happy or sad tears behind my camera because someone has given me access into their life, shown me something meaningful or raw. And, I’ve found that those powerful moments happen more readily when I’m away from home.

Why is it you tend to photograph subjects with their backs turned from the camera?

A lot of people don’t perceive climate change within the context of human rights. It can be difficult to understand how environmental issues are inherently human issues; and as I composed my images, I wanted to convey that the experiences of people in this specific location reflect broader, more global implications. By having backs turned to the camera, I’m hoping to portray a more universal theme by implying a feeling of anonymity. The people I’ve met and photographed in this project had their own unique experiences with a changing environment, but as time passes, we will all be impacted by climate change.

Tell us a story behind a memorable moment or experience while photographing in Senegal:

I woke early on a morning with a particularly high tide, and walked down to the fishing community, and overpopulated neighbourhood called Guet Ndar. Stumbling on a stretch of homes being eaten up by the waves, I saw the houses being cracked apart by the ocean and falling, crumbling into the sea. Families moved their belongings from the front of the house, while the back rooms succumbed to the tide. Women and children filled sandbags with broken bits of cement and sand, carrying them on their heads to the shore, where men used old fishing nets to hold the bags in place, in one last effort to provide meagre support to the eroding coast. I was watching the effects of climate change in real time: the projections of scientists and statisticians realized. It was horrifying to watch, and I knew then that the terrible reality of losing homes and livelihoods due to the catastrophe of climate change is going to be an increasingly common phenomenon.

How have people responded to your Senegal series?

There’s been a variety of responses. There’s still a lot of resistance and denial towards climate change, but I believe and hope that is changing. I had one editor tell me that they didn’t run stories of climate change because they didn’t think American audiences care enough about the issue. That really broke my heart to hear. I’ve had friends tell me not to talk about my project with their conservative relatives who didn’t believe in climate change. But, the story has also been published several times, and had opened up a lot of great conversations among my friends about the human contribution and responsibility to our changing planet. On a personal level, this project has made me investigate my own relationship to nature, and my own patterns of consumption.