Students in the College of Media and Communication had a different kind of lunch date on Tuesday.
Gary Braasch presenting on Feb. 11.
Environmental photographer Gary Braasch visited Texas Tech to talk about his photography involving climate change. The event was part of the Brown Bag Lunch series the college hosts throughout the semester.
Braasch said he started his career as a journalist and then discovered photography. After photographing Mount Saint Helens erupting in 1980, Brassch knew he wanted to pursue visual storytelling.
“In this picture, the anaconda…”
Braasch has worked with numerous scientist around the world, and was recalled the stories behind the many pictures he showed at the discussion. One of the pictures he shared showed an anaconda wrapped around a man’s leg.
“In this picture, the anaconda, which is one of the biggest snakes next to a python,” Brassch said, “wrapped around the scientist’s leg. Right after I took the picture, the research team had to pull it off of him. They stretched it out, and were able to get enough samples to find out many things about the snakes in that area.”
“They just all came to see who the man in the boat was.”
Many students attended the brown bag lunch discussion.
Brassch does not only photograph nature. He also showed many pictures of people he has met along his journeys. One story he shared was about a Canadian indigenous woman, who watched her surroundings drastically change over her lifetime. Another story was about an island in Bangladesh.
“I didn’t even ask them to do that,” Braasch said. “They just all came to see who the man in the boat was.”
Besides photographing around the world, Braasch has also been involved with many publications. “Earth Under Fire” is a book about climate change, with all work done by Braasch. A children’s book, “How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate,” helps explain the complicated topic of global warming to middle school-aged children. Braasch’s photographs have also been featured on international stamps.
If you would like to see Braasch’s work, visit his website.
About Sarah Self-Walbrick
