At the Movies: Photographer

As a storyteller, I am endlessly fascinated by the way people are able to use various mediums to tell poignant and meaningful stories, whether through music, art, photography, dance, or film. 

Often, the artist tends to stay hidden behind their art, so when we’re offered a glimpse into the creators who have opened the doors of unseen worlds, something more is given to us: a peek into the passion, a motive behind the motivation, an insight that illuminates the relationship between the creator and the created.

Photographer

The National Geographic Docuseries Photographer takes viewers behind the lens, into the hearts and lives of the individuals who have captured some of the most compelling images of our world.

Episode one features Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, photographers for National Geographic, as they sail and dive around the Bahamas, showcasing the incredible underwater wildlife biodiversity against the backdrop of recent attempts to drill for oil. 

Together with Andy Mann, they have co-founded SeaLegacy, a global marketing, education, and communication agency for the ocean, which strives to tell the stories of the ocean and its abundant life in such a way as to instruct, inspire, and motivate people across the globe to act on behalf of conservation, “to protect and rewild the ocean for the benefit of biodiversity, humanity, and climate within our lifetimes.”

How did Mittermeier and Nicklen get to this place, on this ship, in this ocean, with these particular hopes and dreams? Each photographer shares their own personal journeys, overcoming the words of doubters and naysayers, taking risks and following their hearts, even when nearly everyone in their lives seemed to be urging them away from their goals.

Photographer is available now on Disney+.

Finding the Love: Faithifying Your Viewing

“The only way you can change the world is with stories,” Cristina Mittermeier says at the very beginning of the first episode of Photographer.

It is one of the unique privileges of our species. Perhaps dolphins and whales carry the ability to share their oral traditions through song and chatter. Perhaps birds are whistling their melodies and telling a story we haven’t yet been able to translate. Perhaps there are other creatures who are able to tell stories in foreign languages… but only humans have been invited to be co-creators of God’s kingdom.

We can write a book, draw a picture, paint a portrait, animate a movie, and develop a photo, all with the intention of telling a story that might move someone, change a person’s heart, or draw our attention to something beautiful, something real, something good. 

Creators like Mittermeier and Nicklen and others in this series are able to use their creative gifts to advocate for the voiceless, enlighten the ignorant, and motivate the indifferent into action for a greater good that is far beyond themselves.

Both Mittermeier and Nicklen share personal stories of adversity and suffering. They had to persevere in order to overcome the voices of people who doubted their abilities. Something happens when people are able to rise above the doubts of others and their own insecurities—they are shaped and formed into better, more open, more generous people. 

And out of that curious work, hope is born.

For all of the beauty and horror Nicklen and Mittermeier have witnessed, they still have hope. Hope gives them agency, power, purpose, and energy to effect change for the better. Through their photography, Nicklen and Mittermeier are telling a better story… and that story very well could save the world.

“We still live on a beautiful planet,” Mittermeier shared. “I want to be an ambassador for nature.”

Hope has the power to lift all of our eyes into seeing and move all of our hands into motion. We hope for things not seen—a future that is filled with clean air, fresh water, abundant food, and biodiversity—and we hope because that future is promised to us, a new heaven and a new earth, rejuvenated and adored by the creator and his co-creators. Let’s turn our eyes away from the despair and hope for that. That is a compelling vision of the future. And we can reach for it together with all of the other co-creators on this planet.

I hope we will. 

Cristina Mittermeier will be releasing a beautiful book by the same name—Hope—in early November 2024. You can preorder her book here.