portraits of climate activists at cop26 in Glasgow

The COP26 theme is back, hope you don’t mind - it was a busy couple of weeks for Glasgow! This was a really enjoyable job which, after the seemingly never-ending lockdowns, made me feel excited about photography again.

Project Everyone is a United Nations Global Partner for SDG Advocacy and Outreach which seeks to put the power of communications behind the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, and I was asked to take photos of their climate justice activists who arrived in Glasgow from all over the world for the conference. It was a beautiful sunny November day and the shoot took place in Broomielaw area of the city where Global Goals put up a huge billboard displaying giant post-it notes with their 17 sustainability goals. Each activist was asked to pick a goal close to their heart and got photographed in front of it. Here’s a selection of images from that day:

“Where the problems are man-made, the solutions are feminist.”
Mary Robinson

This quote from Mary Robinson was the inspiration behind Glasgow City Council’s series of events throughout COP26, ensuring the voices of women and girls were centred in the climate emergency discussions.

I’ve done a few projects during the climate change conference in Glasgow last November, and I will be showcasing some of them in future posts, but GirlsAtCop26 was probably the most rewarding one. 2,500 Year 3 school girls (approximately 15 yo) from Glasgow’s 30 high schools came together over the course of 10 days to discuss climate change with a range of female speakers from all over the world. Sessions took place at Glasgow Caledonian University and my job was to photograph the panellists - from Scottish writers to the mayor of Utrecht.

I wasn’t able to attend every session due to other commitments, but I managed to cover most of them and I loved the experience. I enjoy the challenge of making a connection with someone in a very limited time and putting them at ease in order to get a relaxed and honest photograph. I photographed over 40 women during those two weeks and was hugely inspired, and often moved by them. It was a privilege, and I hope I did them justice. It would take a whole separate section of this site to exhibit all of the images taken so I chose 12 of my personal favourites to showcase below:

(to read about the 2022 exhibition Women At COP26 featuring these images click here)