Do Environmentalists Dream of Green Sheep?
by Christine ZhuangA few months ago, one of the biggest news stories of the year hit the press. Photos of a “lost tribe” were circulated and piqued the interests of everyone from anthropologists to tinfoil-hat conspiracy theorists. Accompanying the photos of men in red paint huddled outside their straw huts were accounts of savagery that included shooting arrows at helicopters. This was a fantastical story that had people salivating.
But that was exactly the case. It was all a fantasy. This is not to say that the tribe really consisted of out-of-work actors on a back lot in Hollywood. However, the lost tribe was not exactly lost. Photographer José Carlos Meirelles admitted that he only sold the photos as an attempt to bring awareness to deforestation; not exactly the typical reason for creating media hoaxes.
This event reveals a new aspect to the plight of the environmentalist and several questions beg to be asked. Is sensationalism the only way to get us to pay attention? How far will other environmentalists go for their agenda to see light? And are we really so apathetic to issues regarding the Earth that we will act only to pretend-play Indiana Jones?
It is a bit pathetic to think that we need shock tactics for us to come to realizations with what we are doing as a population and the effects these actions have. Maybe it is our mundane (as well as hectic) lifestyles that push seemingly frivolous environmental agendas to the back of our minds. Or maybe, we simply don’t care. And in that case, José Carlos Meirelles has started a new wave of environmental activism that can actually make us sit up and take notice.
Photo courtesy of Harcourt Books.
July 14th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Although tying themselves to trees and standing in front of deforestation machines is clearly not the answer, I do think a somewhat more radical approach may be necessary. People forget that the environment outside of their perfectly cut lawns could actually be in more danger than we notice. If the tribe wasn’t lost then ethically the photographer shouldn’t have said they were, yet I can fully understand why he did. Great article. I look forward to the next.
August 6th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
interesting stuff!
August 7th, 2009 at 12:19 am
Thanks Stefan! Same to you! Nice site!