new radical convergence of dance, ocean conservation and media by Christine Ren Films is on a mission to push marine
conservation to the forefront of the news circuits, and gain critical mass for online behavioral change campaigns using social media hashtags across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
As our Earth's CO2 levels have officially passed the 400 ppm mark, now, more than ever, we need innovative, creative tools and messages to catapult the environmental movement to the forefront of both the public and political arenas.Ren's underwater dance conservation image series was pioneered to empower and inspire people to make personal changes in their daily lives - new habits, that will grow and magnify to larger movements and dictate policy level changes.
Each image in the series shines light on a different ocean conservation issue - coral bleaching, plastic pollution, mangrove deforestation, global warming - and ties in with a 30 day behavioral change challenge. New habits take time to root, and require social support to truly sprout. Over a 30 day period, each series in the project asks that viewers take small daily actions to support the ocean. Past series campaigns have empowered people to vote with their wallets and buy only sustainable seafood (#JellyfIshSoup), as well as remove all plastic purchases from their lives (#BlindSpots).
To-date, this project has been completely self-funded. Managing to leverage her personal resources and network thus far, to continue creating Christine is raising funds to complete post-production on her next project, called the Red Road.
The Red Road was my Ren's first underwater performance in the open ocean, and the concept is built around Native American spirituality, roughly translated, in regards to "walking the red road" - a path that means living a life of truth, respect and harmony with nature and others. After flying herself to Phuket, Thailand, Ren managed to convince a local underwater photographer, Adriano Trapani, and Sea Bees Diving, to donate their time, tanks, boat, and more... all for a shot at creating beautiful imagery that would raise awareness about coral bleaching.
It is time, now, for us to choose differently. To shape a vision of an ocean with a future. To help Christine Ren Films create the next images in this series, please sign-up to support the Kickstarter release at http://prefundia.com/projects/view/underwater-dance-to-save-the-ocean/10970.
Photographer: Brett Stanley
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February 2017 - Art & Culture
18 - SEVENSEAS