It’s bad news when a reality under-pinned by a massive scientific literature is spoken about as if it were merely an article of faith. Do you “believe in” climate change? If you don't, then you could simply “hope” that it goes away. But be in no doubt, out in the world, lives are being changed by a gradual warming: houses in Bethel, Alaska subsiding as the underlying permafrost melts; the total breeding failure of many puffin colonies in the Arctic as their prey moves to cooler waters; that of my Latvian friend who lost his son when the ice where he was fishing collapsed.

My project, Nostalgia for Snow, asks the viewer to imagine it’s fifty years hence and they are looking at old photographs, reminiscing on what had been lost. There are three strands: cultural activities dependent on snow and ice; alpine plants and the high mountain environment; and seabirds. Although the photographs are all contemporary, they have been processed in such a way as to lead the viewer to think they are vintage - that everything shown is from the past. Of course, these things remain with us - for now. How much longer that will be depends on a fundamental shift of values that puts life ahead of profit.
For more on Niall's work please visit his website at http://www.niallbenvie.com