Amazon Skies

The Amazon is not just a river, it is an entire region, a basin, a rainforest, a biome. It has been termed the “lungs of our planet” because the vegetation continuously recycles carbon dioxide into oxygen.

On my latest trip to the Amazon, I set out to take photographs of the constant moisture and texture in the sky to illustrate the “breath” of the Amazon, and to evoke the sensation of being in a living organ at work, a “lung”.

The trees spread like capillaries into the tissue of the sky, pumping oxygen into the air where the breaths of clouds are formed.

“All things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man… the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.”– Chief Seattle

“Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” – John F. Kennedy

“With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. No matter where on Earth you live.” – Sylvia Earle

According to the World Wildlife Fund, models suggest that by the year 2050, temperatures in the Amazon will increase by 2–3°C…

…while rainfall will decrease, resulting in longer and more severe droughts, and substantial changes in seasonality.

This is undeniable climate change.

With every bend in the river, the clouds danced with the light on the stage of the sky, and the Amazon took another breath.

The moments I captured will never happen again – the clouds transform and grow, the light moves and changes – but as long as the planet continues to breath, there will be beautiful skies to photograph.