Interviewer: Mirabella Meoni

Interviewee: Jason Houston

Date: January 9, 2019
Setting: Email correspondence

(Start of Interview)
Interviewer: How did you get your inspiration for the project on Amazon’s Isolated
Tribes1?
Interviewee: Stories like this that combine social and environmental issues are what I
focus on. I was introduced to this subject through an assignment with
Science Magazine in 2015. One of the orgs that helped us with connections
and logistics, etc was Upper Amazon Conservancy. I saw how this small,
dedicated organization worked and liked they approach. I kept in touch
with the director, Chris Fagan, and together we came up with several
follow up projects and have made four more trips to the regions they work
in in southeastern Peru.
Interviewer: Documenting pressing issues in emerging countries seems to be something
you love, how did you become interested in this subject area?
Interviewee: These areas are not only where there are many critical and critically
threatened resources, but also where outside support is desperately needed.
I began focusing on these places because it’s important and—at least from
my more humanitarian perspective on environmental issues—often under
reported. From a more personal perspective, I also see that these places are
often where the last remaining and highest biological and cultural diversity
remains—places still less touched by the global tides of western
homogeneity. And I simply find that beautiful and part of how I want the
world to be. And, now, in this industry, specialization is important and so
the more I’ve learned about these places, the higher-value I have for NGO
partners and other clients as an expert working in these areas.

Interviewer: What victories did you have while photographing this project? Can you tell
me about some of the most memorable moments you had on this
project/shoot? What were your successes?

Interviewee: The deep Amazon is a magical place. Every now and then you realize how
far away you are, yet how closely surrounded by this dense web of life you
are. There are countless things—plants, animals, cultures— that exist no
where else in the world.

Interviewer: What struggles did you face while photographing the series? What were
your toughest moments or your lowest points in the shoot?
Interviewee: Access is hard. Travel is tough and distances are long. There are language
barriers that often require translation through several languages back and
 forth. Food and water will make you sick and the insects are relentless.
And it’s hot and damp all the time. The hardships themselves don’t bother
me, but when they make it difficult to make the photographs one wants—
hard to be in the right place at the right time or for long enough—that can
be very frustrating. You work so hard to be there, then miss something
because of all those challenges.

Interviewer: What change happened because of the series? What actual effect did your
photographs have? Did your images have any effect on the project?
Have you worked on a project where they made images that had a "real" or
transformative effect on the outcome of an environmental law, or a positive
outcome for wildlife?

Interviewee: I think images rarely have an effect on their own. They’re dependent on
how they’re presented and how they’re seen and understood. A compelling
image may, on its own, move someone emotionally and they may put those
feelings in a context where they might have influence over change, but
that’s rare. So the collaborations build around the images and the strategies
for using the images are essential if they are to have impact. The most
direct and effective use of the images from this project were from one of
the trips we did where we were exploring alternative transportation routes
for goods and services into remote towns surrounded by the Alto Purús
National Park. There was a bill up for vote to develop a road through the
heart of the park, and roads are the entry point for all the other more
familiar deforestation drivers—logging, mining, oil and gas, unregulated
development and settlement, etc—and would severely threaten the
sovereignty of the remote indigenous and isolated tribes living in that
region. We traveled with a group of environmental lawyers and reporters
from the largest news organization in Peru, El Comercio, and collaborated
with others such as indigenous organizations in Peru and Brazil, to both
raise awareness and document the viability of these alternative routes. The
collective effort has stalled and probably stopped the road project. I hope
the photos played a roll in that effectiveness.

Interviewer: What is your ultimate goal with your work? What is the purpose of what
you do? Why do you do it?

Interviewee: Personally, I love photography. I love the process and outcomes and it’s a
passport to experiences that are so much deeper, for me at least, than mere
travel. I love auditing and learning from other people’s lives and I believe
there is value in sharing that. More generally, I believe it's a powerful,
emotional medium for communication and I know the world can still be
made a better place. My goal is to be a part of that—of making the world
the kind of world I want to live in.

Interviewer: What does conservation photography mean to you personally?

 Interviewee: Conservation is a complicated term. I think it’s too often limited to trees
and tigers and coral reefs and sharks. If the well-being and livelihoods of
the people who also live most closely to and reply most intimately on those
resources are not taken into account, then efforts to protect those things are
likely to fail. And “Conservation Photography” just the same too often
stops at nature and wildlife photography. Images that are motivated by the
things we want to save and inspire with their beauty, but that don’t advance
the complicated and difficult conversations we need to be having if we’re
really serious about moving towards solutions. We need to explore those
complexities and compromises and find what makes us both different and
the same if we’re to eventually understand what needs to be done to work
together to protect what’s left of the planet and improve how we live on it
and with each other.
(End of Interview)

1. Amazon’s Isolated Tribes