DPI Senior Anna Betts' Portraits of Climate Activists In VICE and Buzzfeed

For the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, Anna Betts — a senior in the NYU Tisch Department of Photography & Imaging — had her thesis project featured in not one, but two online publications. Her project, "Love & Rage: The New Faces of Climate Activism," was featured in i-D on VICE. She was also interviewed for jpg, Buzzfeed.News's photography newsletter. See below for the full text:

THE NEXT GENERATION'S CRISIS 

With the ongoing pandemic and the escalating economic crisis, it’s easy to forget the other existential crisis: climate change. In honor of Earth Day, we wanted to highlight the work of Anna Betts, who took portraits of young activists last year. Betts, a recent college graduate herself, spoke with us about her work and its importance. 

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO PHOTOGRAPH CLIMATE ACTIVISTS? 

I chose to photograph young climate activists as I was inspired by the Climate Strike that took place globally on Sept. 20, 2019. Around the world, young people are mobilizing to demand greater action on climate change. I attended the strike in New York with a friend and was blown away by the dedication, passion, and hard work of these young people who were fighting for their futures and decided that it was something that I had to be a part of and document.

HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR SUBJECTS FOR THIS PROJECT? ARE YOU STILL IN TOUCH?

I found these subjects initially through Instagram as I realized that with the rise of social media, young people were becoming more engaged with politics online. I reached out to a few activists and organizations such as Fridays for Future NYC and XR Youth NYC and set up meetings with them. I learned that the organizations hold weekly youth-run meetings, which I then attended for a few months in order to get to know my subjects and allow them to become comfortable around me.

Rather than solely being an observer, I wanted to become a participant. I am so inspired by their optimism and persistence. I am still in touch with them, apart from the fact that of course we are all self-isolating. The weekly meetings are still happening over Zoom, which is incredible as despite these challenging times, these youth activists are continuing to find ways to mobilize and work towards saving this planet. 

WHAT WAS THE REASONING FOR THE FORMAL PORTRAITURE? 

Photography has frequently been adopted throughout history as a tool of and for activism as photographs play fundamental roles in global and national memories, which is why I felt that photographs of these activists was a perfect way to document their passion, courage, and frustration. Formal portraiture has historically been reserved for the wealthy, the sacred, and those in power such as royalty. For this project, I drew inspiration from traditional portraiture paintings (which I demonstrated through the use of lighting to create a halo-type effect to elevate these subjects) and combined this with the idea of high school yearbook photography alluding to their age. 

WHAT DO YOU HOPE THE VIEWER WILL GET OUT OF THIS SERIES? 

I hope that this work inspires people to learn more about the climate crisis and what they can do to be a part of the movement. I hope that by seeing an 8-year-old, such as Avery, get involved in social and climate activism, people realize that anyone can be a part of this movement, and anyone any age can make a difference in their communities. 

ARE YOU PLANNING ON CONTINUING THIS? 

Yes! I hope to continue this project and to document young climate activists around America, not just New York. I am also trying to find a way to document the virtual activism that has become essential due to the current circumstances of COVID-19 so stay tuned, haha!