Together for the Oceans
This September we launched a collaboration with the international photo art gallery LUMAS to help raise awareness for the endangered ocean ecosystem through photography that spotlights the beauty and fragility of its waters and inhabitants. In two exclusive Parley x LUMAS Editions, the artworks of Sheila Rogers and Jean-Marie Ghislain will be available for purchase online, with proceeds supporting the Parley Global Cleanup Network.
The Parley x LUMAS Editions
The sea is home to living masterpieces created by the world’s best designer: nature. Beneath the surface is a magic blue universe upon which every earthly being depends—a complex, beautiful, and fragile web of marine life humans are collectively driving to extinction. Our aim with LUMAS is to inspire its conservation and protection through the power of art.
Art transcends the boundaries of traditional language and challenges the divide between humans and the natural world. It is one of the most powerful forms of activism, and therefore imperative to solutions.
Four special editions in total were created through the Parley x LUMAS partnership to support the cause. Works by concept artist Sheila Rogers and renowned underwater photographer Jean-Marie Ghislain are now available online and will be in LUMAS galleries around the world starting September 8, 2016. Proceeds from the purchase of these special edition artworks will directly support the efforts of the Parley Global Cleanup Network.
Event Schedule & Details:
Shelia Rogers: Oceans of Plastic
American artist Shelia Rogers wants to shake people awake with her photographs. Her works depict nothing more than artfully arranged plastic trash that has washed ashore on the beach in her Texas hometown. Her monochrome plastic heaps remind us of the threatened mussel banks and coral formations. They are original and unique, and they prove that even the smallest and most unimportant things in life deserve great attention. And that is the artist’s intention: to raise awareness about threats to the oceans. What we throw into the sea comes back to haunt us, not only washed-up on the shore but also in the food chain. In the end, Shelia Rogers’ “Oceans of Plastic” is a reflection on the circle of life and fragility of nature.
Jean-Marie Ghislain: The Whale Shark
Throughout his entire life, Jean-Marie Ghislain was afraid of the ocean’s dangerous predators. In 2008, he decided to face his fears. Since his first dive with sharks, the Belgian artist has been dedicated to underwater photography as well as protecting marine life. These days, Jean-Marie Ghislain is regarded as the world’s most famous shark whisperer. However, it is not just the touching personal approach that makes his photographs so fascinating. Ghislain portrays diverse shark species in gentle and atmospheric black & white photographs, setting new benchmarks in underwater photography. In spectacular photographs, he reveals a previously unseen, almost tender side to these assumed monsters that stoke our collective fears.
Featured image: The Whale Shark © Jean-Marie Ghislain, www.lumas.com
