Next to drop from ART3.io, the Decade of Change collection comprises 23 award-winning artworks that capture the defining issue of our time: the climate crisis
From British Journal of Photography and ART3.io, the Decade of Change NFT collection is now live on OpenSea: 23 award-winning artworks that each offer a unique perspective on the climate crisis.
Originally part of a major international photography exhibition – curated by leaders in art, activism and science; touring from Hong Kong to New York Climate Week – the works offer a timely snapshot of a pivotal moment in our planet’s history, as seen through the lenses of distinguished photographers including Ruairidh McGlynn, Yuyang Liu and Lena C Emery.
Spanning humankind to wildlife and cityscapes to ecosystems, the collection shines a light on the strength and fragility of the natural world. It examines global warming’s indirect impacts on communities and everyday people, and humanity’s efforts to turn things around.
Minted on Polygon – reducing the process’ carbon emissions by up to 99 per cent – the works are on sale as unique NFT editions of ten, with exclusive unlockable content for collectors. Ten per cent of all primary sales will be donated to the Eden Reforestation Project, equating to at least 200 trees planted for every NFT sold.
Here, we chat to six artists from the collection about the artwork they’re selling.
Suresh Naganathan (India)
Suresh Naganathan is a Mumbai-based street photographer who uses his camera to interrogate both the world around him and his own self. His Decade of Change image, titled Bombay Dystopia, was taken outside his former office building.
“This landscape turned dystopia was originally a picnic spot with rolling hills and (sometimes) leopards roaming around,” Naganathan divulges. “But within 15 years, human greed transformed it from a land of trees to a monochrome concrete jungle. To me, this is a small-scale example of how India – a land that used to be known for its nature and wildlife – is going down the wrong path in the name of ‘development’. Trees that used to cool us down and give us shade are getting cut down and replaced by buildings that will only increase the heat.
I am hoping that this image will shed some light on how development (especially high-end house buildings that are bought and sold as investments) runs counter to what this country absolutely needs to tackle the next decades of climate disasters.”
Suresh Naganathan’s work is available to buy here.
Hermann Bredehorst (Germany)
Hermann Bredehorst is a Berlin-based photojournalist. He is a regular contributor to Germany’s leading news publication, Der Spiegel, and his client list includes the likes of TIME, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Business Week.
In his Decade of Change image, Bredehorst captures the renowned Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg standing among fellow campaigners in Berlin, Germany. The shot was taken following her address to a crowd of around 2,000 demonstrators during a ‘Fridays for Future’ protest — part of the school strike movement Thunberg started, and which catapulted her to global recognition.
“American painter Jasper Johns said recently in an interview with TIME: ‘Visual information remains a primary source of meaning’,” remarks Bredehorst, reflecting on his decision to venture into the world of NFTs. “Bearing in mind that making a living as an artist and photojournalist today is pretty challenging, one of the ironies of today’s world might be using NFTs as a tool to widen the audience for a cause like the climate.”
Hermann Bredehorst’s work is available to buy here.
Kathy Anne Lim (Singapore)
Kathy Anne Lim is a Singapore-born photographer and visual artist whose poetic documentary work focuses on themes of memory, technology and displacement. She has been exhibited around the world, and had work published in the likes of the Washington Post, Esquire Singapore and Aesthetica.
Lim’s Decade of Change image captures a cloud of fumigation smoke rising by a housing estate poolside in Singapore. “Fumigations are commonplace in Singapore, a city on the equator with a high population density,” explains the artist. “The country faces concerns with diseases transmittable by insects such as Dengue and Malaria, [relying on] chemicals to keep them under control.”
“The fog becomes a temporary sculpture,” Lim comments of the image, “suspended within a [built environment]; it transforms the visual landscape into one of a haunting dystopia.”
Kathy Anne Lim’s work is available to buy here.
Luka Lukasiak (Poland)
Luka Lukasiak is a multi-award-winning documentary photographer based in Warsaw, Poland. His work has appeared in Vogue Polska, Photo Vogue Italia, British Journal of Photography, i-D and Independent.
Lukasiak’s Decade of Change image, titled Naked Chimneys, captures a woman who’d been swimming in the Czerniakowski Lake – a nature reserve in Warsaw – during a freezing cold Polish winter. 46 species of trees and 27 species of shrubs can be found in the reserve, and the landscape is distinguished by beautiful black poplar trees. But juxtaposed to the east is the Siekierki power station – depicted in the background of Lukasiak’s portrait – which is the largest heat and power plant in Poland, and the second largest in Europe.
“My drop in the form of this photo could catch the attention of a huge number of recipients around the world, and help them reflect,” remarks Lukasiak. “Money is not as important as the conscious reach of people or groups to whom this photo may go. If the photo sells, I will use the money to be able to make more photos on similar topics around the world.”
Luka Lukasiak’s work is available to buy here.
Kate Peters (UK)
Kate Peters is an award-winning photographer based in London. Her work has appeared on the cover of TIME and in the pages of FT Weekend, Guardian Weekend and the Telegraph Magazine. A selection of her portraits also form part of the permanent collection at London’s National Portrait Gallery.
Peters’ Decade of Change image captures a farm called Growing Underground. It is located in a series of abandoned bunkers from the Second World War, situated 108 feet below a South London high street.
“No natural daylight reaches these depths, but despite that, a productive farm grows microgreens under artificial lights, which end up in supermarkets and on restaurant tables,” explains Peters. “Growing Underground uses renewable energy, no pesticides and is zero waste. It’s a sustainable approach to farming which may just help to sustain the future of farming in the UK.”
Kate Peters’ work is available to buy here.
Micha Serraf (South Africa)
Micha Serraf is an award-winning commercial and fine art photographer whose fiction-based work focuses on fashion, social consciousness and conceptual portraiture. His Decade of Change image, titled Unicorns & Rainbows, captures a child playing in the ocean as helicopters tend to forest fires in the distance.
“It’s an image that speaks volumes about responsibility, precious childhood naivety and the dire need to change our ways,” remarks the artist.
Micha Serraf’s work is available to buy here.