If you haven’t yet visited the Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition (London), or visited its website, you might not have had the privilege of seeing Daniel Beltra’s winning portfolio of images taken over BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010 . They are shocking and beautiful at the same time. They stimulate inner, political and environmental conflicts and are a devastating chronicle of man’s impact on the natural world. I defy you not to gasp and weep when seeing them for the first time.
They make you question so much, but at the same time, no solution presents itself. Can we live without oil? Can we live better with oil? Personally, the biggest questions it raises for me is what damage did this cause? What unknown impacts are there that the media has not yet discovered to report? Will the sea ever be ‘clean’ again?
These are incredibly powerful shots from an incredibly talented photographer who is an inspiration to us all.