American photographer Steve Winter and journalist Sharon Gaynap say the rise of social media has had an impact on endangered species around the world.
“Shortened attention spans have really affected how people perceive news and information,” adds Gainap. This has reduced the scope for the deep investigative work they do.
And that worries them, because in 35 years they’ve seen how important that kind of storytelling can be in driving change, changing public policy, and changing mindsets.
Winter, 63, a freelance photographer, has worked with National Geographic for more than two decades. He has been named BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, BBC Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year and won several World Press Photo awards.
Gaynap, 66, is an independent journalist who has won awards for her coverage of conservation science, wildlife crime and climate change. New York University also named her a 2023 Change Maker.
Their investigation into the captive tiger tourism industry in the US (more on that in a bit) uncovered wildlife abuse and trafficking. Their 30-page National Geographic piece was presented to members of the US Congress by the National Geographic Society, leading to new legislation, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, in 2022.
Winter’s iconic 2013 photo of a cougar named P-22 strolling through a city park that houses the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles has become a symbol of the resilience of urban wildlife and sparked public support for an expensive wildlife bridge still under construction. and is expected to be the largest in the world when completed.
Together for 35 years, Winter and Gainup have traveled the world, climbing mountains and across incredible landscapes to bring people views and news about the natural world beyond what most of us know about it.
For their immense contribution, earlier this month, they were honored with the Lifetime Service Award of the Indian Reserve.
But stories that make a difference take investment and time, says Gaynap.
Their captive tiger tourism story was two years in the making, and the duo spent much of 2019 and 2020 undercover. Their final story features ruined roadside zoos that constantly breed big cats so they can always have cubs. They then charged visitors to pet these animals and take selfies with them. The plot also featured people who bought a tiger, put some kind of chain around their house and simply kept the endangered wild animal as a pet.
There was an institutional and cultural gap that allowed this to happen, Gunap says. “This story ultimately ended the practical contact and private ownership of big cats in the United States.”
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The next film about the couple will also appear in National Geographic.
Winter and Gainup are currently in Gujarat studying and documenting the techniques used in Gir National Park because of how well they have worked to increase the Asiatic lion population.
“The conservation work being done at Geary is comprehensive, encompassing 21st century technology, community programs and more, making it a model for conservation around the world,” says Gainap. “The national park’s relationship with tourism and local communities is also a very positive conservation story, in our view.”
They always give hope, they add, to tell solution-oriented stories.
“Another thing we’ve been working on for about two years in the US is documenting efforts to create passages through landscaped landscapes, specifically finding safe crossings for animals across roads and rail. It’s a way to reconnect a torn landscape cut by roads and other infrastructure,” says Gaynap.
The hope is that their story-based campaign will produce results similar to what they saw in Winter’s P-22 photo.
“Back then, many believed that there were no mountain lions in the area. But I knew there was a wildlife corridor that ran from the Santa Monica Mountains to Griffith Park (where the Hollywood sign is),” he says.
It took 15 months of watching and waiting, but Winter finally got his signature look. It helped raise $95 million over 10 years for the flyover that now sits there, “proving the transformative power of photography in conservation efforts,” he says.
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However, since 2022, with reporting media budgets shrinking, the duo has begun funding some of their own work through their non-profit organization Big Cat Voices.
“It gives us the freedom to tell the stories we need,” says Winter.
But it doesn’t have to take an NGO or an award-winning story to move the needle, he adds. “Small steps can eventually do it, too. I think there’s still a lot of work to be done to get to a place where we as a planet are really moving forward on climate change, pollution, deforestation, and on many fronts of damage to the planet.”
Shifting the lens a little can make a difference, Gainup adds.
What she would like to see: environmental costs included in the competence of health care. “Because the health of the planet is directly related to our health,” she says. “Perhaps if we took into account the value of clean water, clean air and other types of ‘ecosystem services,’ the value of a tree or an ecosystem would be higher.”
WITH SURVEILLANCE
* Photographer Steve Winter, 63, and journalist Sharon Gainup, 66, live in Hoboken, New Jersey.
* The only thing they really miss during all the time on the road, they say, is their five-year-old granddaughter Winter Rose, “who brings us the greatest joy.”
* “But we put in crazy hours at work and work seven days a week as freelancers,” says Gainap. Zima, when he is not working, likes to listen to podcasts and cook. “He’s a great cook… we all look forward to these meals,” says Gainap.
