Recommendations
During the last decades countless people have devote their lives to protecting this planet, through photography, oceanography, storytelling, or science. What you find here is a small collection of those I return to again and again: individuals who, in their own ways, help us see the Earth as something worth loving, and therefore, worth protecting.
The selection you find here is just a fraction of the many individuals and formats worth noticing, and I welcome any recommendations that might extend this collection.
Cristina Mittermeier
Her work moves between science and storytelling, using photography not merely to document the world, but to cultivate a sense of belonging within it.
https://www.cristinamittermeier.com
Paul Nicklen
Through his lens, the ocean is no distant expanse but a place of encounter, where animals meet the viewer eye to eye and the illusion of separation begins to dissolve.
https://www.paulnicklen.com
Sebastião Salgado
His work bears witness to both the fragility and the dignity of life on Earth, capturing landscapes and communities in a way that feels less like observation and more like quiet testimony.
https://www.amazonasimages.com
Ami Vitale
Her photography moves beyond documentation, following the complex relationships between people, wildlife, and changing environments with a sense of care and long-term commitment.
Visual Storytelling & Photography
Images do more than capture what is there, they draw our attention to lives and places we might otherwise overlook and make it harder to remain indifferent.
Tara Roberts
Through her work, she brings forward stories that have long remained unseen, connecting ocean exploration with questions of history, identity, and belonging.
Ansel Adams
His images of vast landscapes did more than capture beauty; they helped shape a cultural understanding of nature as something to be protected rather than possessed.
https://www.anseladams.com
Frans Lanting
With a quiet, attentive gaze, he portrays animals not as spectacles, but as fellow inhabitants of a shared world.
https://www.lanting.com
David Doubilet
His underwater photography reveals connections between worlds above and below the surface, reminding us how thin the boundary between them truly is.
https://www.daviddoubilet.com
Exploration & Field Experience
Direct encounters with distant places and species bring a kind of knowing that no report can replace and allow us to feel part of a world we have never set foot in.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
He opened the depths of the ocean to human imagination, turning exploration into a form of storytelling that made the unseen both visible and worth caring for.
https://cousteau.org
Sylvia Earle
Her lifelong work beneath the surface has given the ocean a voice in public discourse, one grounded in knowledge, urgency, and enduring wonder.
https://mission-blue.org
Uli Kunz
As a marine biologist and communicator, Uli transforms scientific insight into accessible forms, highlighting that understanding often begins with curiosity rather than expertise.
https://www.ulikunz.de
Valerie Taylor
Through decades of diving and close encounters, she has helped transform fear of sharks into a deeper understanding of their role within marine ecosystems.
https://www.sharks.org/valerie-taylor
https://www.sharkdiver.com/valerie-taylor
Céline Cousteau
Her work combines exploration with storytelling, often focusing on the relationships between ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
https://www.celinecousteau.com
Film, Media & Large-Scale Storytelling
Moving images place us in front of realities we might never witness ourselves and leave traces that continue to shape how we see long after.
David Attenborough
His documentaries have made the natural world visible on a global scale, demonstrating the power of storytelling to shape collective awareness.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Through film, he transformed exploration into a shared experience, allowing audiences to witness environments previously beyond reach.
https://cousteau.org
Chai Vasarhelyi
Her films explore human encounters with extreme environments, revealing both vulnerability and resilience in the face of nature.
https://www.littlemonsterfilms.com
Jennifer Peedom
She works with image, sound, and narrative to evoke landscape as an experience, rather than simply a place.
https://www.jenniferpeedom.com
Dirk Steffens
His work in television demonstrates how complex environmental topics can be communicated at scale without losing nuance.
https://www.zdf.de/dokumentation/terra-x
Movies & Screen
Moving images can shift perception in ways that facts alone rarely do, drawing us into encounters that stay long after the screen goes dark.
Racing Extinction
A documentary that exposes the scale of species loss in the Anthropocene, combining investigative work with visual storytelling to make extinction not an abstract concept, but a present reality.
https://racingextinction.com
My Octopus Teacher
A quiet and intimate account of an unlikely relationship between a human and an octopus, revealing how attention and patience can transform the way we relate to other forms of life.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81045007
Chasing Ice
Following the work of photographer James Balog, the film documents glacial retreat in real time, making climate change visible through long-term observation.
https://chasingice.com
Chasing Coral
A visual journey into the disappearance of coral reefs, showing both the beauty of these ecosystems and the speed at which they are being lost.
https://chasingcoral.com
Our Planet
A large-scale documentary series that combines breathtaking imagery with a clear narrative about the state of the natural world and the consequences of human impact.
https://www.netflix.com/title/80049832
Before the Flood
A global exploration of climate change, bringing together science, politics, and personal encounters to examine both causes and possible responses
https://www.beforetheflood.com
The Cove
An investigative documentary that uncovers hidden practices in marine environments, raising questions about ethics, culture, and responsibility.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1313104
Mission Blue
Following Sylvia Earle’s work, the film highlights the urgency of ocean conservation while conveying a lifelong dedication to the protection of marine ecosystems.
https://mission-blue.org/film
Podcasts & Contemporary Voices
Listening as a way of coming closer to the world
Helden der Meere Podcast
This german podcast is dedicated to ocean conservation that bridges scientific insights, personal stories, and practical perspectives on protecting our marine environments.
https://www.helden-der-meere.com
How to Save a Planet Podcast
A series exploring climate solutions through storytelling, science, and human experience, making complex issues tangible and actionable.
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet
Outrage + Optimism Podcast
A podcast that combines political insight, climate expertise, and constructive narratives to explore pathways toward a more livable future.
https://www.outrageandoptimism.org
Future Ecologies Podcast
A series that examines ecological systems and human relationships to them, weaving together science, storytelling, and sound.
https://www.futureecologies.net
Anna Renner
Her work connects marine science with education and communication, creating spaces where knowledge is not only shared but experienced and reflected upon.
https://www.oceancollective.de
Emily Renner
She contributes to translating ocean-related knowledge into accessible formats that invite engagement and foster a deeper sense of responsibility.
https://www.oceancollective.de
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Her work bridges marine science, policy, and communication, creating new spaces for dialogue around ocean and climate issues.
https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com
Leah Stokes
She translates complex climate policy into accessible narratives, helping to connect systemic change with everyday understanding.
https://www.leahstokes.com
Jane Goodall
Her work with chimpanzees reshaped how we think about animals, revealing individuality, emotion, and social complexity where once there was distance.
https://www.janegoodall.org
Rachel Carson
Through careful observation and precise language, she made environmental degradation visible and, in doing so, helped initiate a broader cultural awakening.
https://www.rachelcarson.org
Sandra Díaz
Her research explores the relationships between biodiversity and human societies, highlighting how ecological systems and cultural values are intertwined.
https://ipbes.net/users/sandra-diaz
Katharine Hayhoe
She brings climate science into public conversation with clarity and care, showing that understanding often begins with connection rather than data alone.
https://www.katharinehayhoe.com
Carl Safina
His writing brings scientific knowledge into narrative form, allowing readers to encounter animals and ecosystems as subjects rather than objects of study.
https://www.carlsafina.org
Science, Research & Observation
Careful observation makes visible the fragile relationships that hold ecosystems together and challenges the idea that we stand apart from them.
Transformation of the Self
Working with body, breath, and awareness shifts how we experience ourselves, and in doing so, opens up the possibility for change that does not begin with action, but with perception.
Yoga X Team
A practice that brings together movement, breath, and awareness, inviting a shift in how we experience ourselves in relation to the world.
https://www.yogaxteam.com/blog/welcome-to-yogax
Yoga Holidays Greece
A space where retreat, landscape, and embodied practice come together, allowing for a slower, more attentive way of being.
https://www.yogaholidaysgreece.com/
Wim Hof
Through breath and exposure, he explores the boundaries between body, mind, and environment, making internal states tangible.
https://www.wimhofmethod.com
Laird Hamilton
Works at the intersection of physical challenge, breath, and mental presence, translating ocean experience into personal practice.
https://www.lairdhamilton.com
Richie Bostock
Focuses on the role of breathing as a bridge between physiology, emotion, and awareness.
https://www.thebreathguy.com
Ayla Nereo
Combines music, nature connection, and retreat formats to create spaces for reflection and reconnection.
https://www.aylanereo.com
If this resonates, feel free to reach out:
Let your awareness become action.
If you find yourself wondering what role you might play in all of this, it is perhaps less a question of doing more, and more a matter of seeing differently. Change does not begin with grand gestures, but in the quiet, often overlooked spaces of everyday life. In the choices we make, the words we use, the ways we show up, and the things we support, we are already shaping the world around us—whether we notice it or not.
Perhaps the question is not what we can do. But how we begin to see. For once we notice our place within the world, it becomes difficult to imagine that our choices do not matter.
