John Marriott

Can one photograph tell a story and inspire the world? One of Canada’s most celebrated visual storytellers has spent his career proving why the answer is yes. John Marriott – multi-book author, host of the web-based series Exposed and award-winning photographer – knows what it takes to capture a visual story and create a global market for it. John spoke with us by email to share his thoughts on responsible storytelling and what it takes for one image to demand the attention of the world.

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What fascinates you about photography as a vehicle to tell stories?

The old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, is so true. A great photo can engage an audience so quickly and make them interested in what’s happening and what the story is, particularly today with Tik Tok and IG and so on, where visual images and videos are king.

You could have photographed anything, but you’ve focused on nature. Why?

Nature is what has always interested me. I tried photographing other things and it just felt like work, whereas photographing nature feels like I’m always on holiday, haha. Is there a better job on earth than going out and photographing bears and wolves and wild beasts? I don’t think so…

It’s seems like it’s becoming harder to make a living as a photographer at a time when nature photography is also becoming increasingly controversial. Do you agree? Is there hope for the profession?

I’d argue that photography is not becoming a harder field to break into. In fact, I think it’s easier right now than ever before if there’s a vision and a business sense. It’s now so easy for photographers to get good quickly and to compete quickly if they are a good photographer.

There are definitely issues with photographers putting their desire to ‘get the shot’ over the welfare of the animals they’re photographing. I see it a ton in Jasper and our national parks, photographers that crowd in on animals and don’t really care what effect they’re having on those wild animals. It’s an issue in wildlife photography in particular, but also nature photography in general. When I started out 25 years ago, I’d be the only photographer at Moraine Lake for sunrise. But with the advent of Facebook and IG and the constant need to be ‘seen’ and ‘liked’, now a typical sunrise at Moraine Lake can have 200 photographers there. We’re literally loving nature to death in some places and photography, unfortunately, has been a big part of that.

Is there a model of balance that you’ve seen work well?

That’s a great question. Yes and no. Truthfully, balance often has to come from the individuals and not everyone is willing to do that or sacrifice their shots for the well-being of the wildlife and the locations. Having said that, I’ve seen some great models of balance in areas like the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary in the Great Bear Rainforest, where only a set number of photographers/wildlife enthusiasts are allowed to go into the protected area each day and for just a limited amount of time. I would like to see this model employed elsewhere throughout BC and beyond.

Increasingly, we’re discouraging people from observing wildlife in the Rocky Mountain Parks because they’re becoming too saturated. We say go to more remote places where the animals are less stressed. But isn’t there a danger in a) bringing too many people into true wilderness and b) making wildlife observation the domain of the rich?

Absolutely. We have to check our privilege at the door sometimes and realize that for a family from Australia, seeing a roadside elk or bear is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a thrill that may resonate with them for a lifetime, making them always lean toward a conservation-line of thinking because of that trip to Canada and what they saw. I don’t usually encourage people to go to more remote places where animals are less stressed, because that just transfers the effect of saturation and makes it even more broad. I’d rather see 50 photographers surrounding a bear in Jasper than 45 there and another 5 on a more wild bear somewhere else. If we can’t connect people to nature in a way that’s both affordable and achievable, then we’re going to lose this battle with climate change and not have enough people on our side to fight for wildlife.

Often, people who advocate for nature have had a personal experience in nature. Based on your experience, how critical is it critical to get people outdoors? Might there be value in turning a place like Banff National Park or Mount Robson Provincial Park into a living classroom, regardless of the consequences, if it gets ten new parks created? Or are these places simply too important to put at risk to widespread tourism?

It is indeed critical to get people outdoors, to create those connections I’ve alluded to above. My own connections stem from fishing trips with my Dad to a small creek in BC as a kid and from camping trips with my family to the Rockies when I was in my teens. We need to create as many of those experiences as we can for children and teens and for people in general. I would be all for opening up Banff or Robson or other areas into living classrooms if it meant creating ten new parks. The Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site is already saturated, so at this point, I think turning it into a living classroom would be a brilliant idea. Turn it from a shopping experience in Banff to a true nature experience, albeit in a crowded classroom. The bottom line is we need more wild areas, more protected places, and more opportunities to turn people on to what nature offers us.

You’ve been outspoken about trophy hunting, wildlife rehabilitation and conservation. Why?

Because it’s what matters to me. I have always felt that our wildlife doesn’t have much of a voice speaking out on their behalf. So much of our so-called ‘wildlife management’ is run on a consumptive basis (by hunters and trappers) from the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, which basically says that our wildlife is there as a resource to be used and utilized (and killed and stuck up on a wall). But this ignores completely the intrinsic value that nature has and that wild animals and wilderness offer to the majority of us, those of us that are non-consumptive users (hikers, bikers, wildlife photographers, nature lovers, etc). Where is our say in all of this? Why is our wildlife being managed for the minority interests of a few thousand trophy hunters and trappers and why are our non-consumptive conservation interests not being considered at all? This is the change I want to effect and this is the voice I want to help give our wildlife. That’s why conservation matters to me.

Are you ever worried that you’re preaching to the choir? Or do you think the disconnect between awareness and action – even amongst those who agree with you – is so great that your message needs to be heard?

I’m not worried at all. I think most of the ‘choir’ or the ‘converted’ need education and tools at their disposal to defeat the biases and untruths that are fathered by the consumptive users. Let’s use wolves as an example. How many people out there know that almost all of what they hear about wolves being fierce, aggressive animals is complete BS? That they’re more likely to be killed crossing a sidewalk than spending a lifetime with wolf packs? That just one person in the past 100 years in North America has actually been killed by a wolf? These are biases that have been ingrained in us from the hunter-trapper community and they’re in desperate need of being refuted. I also think there is a large portion of the population that is simply unaware of most of the issues in wildlife conservation. Few people know that you can trophy hunt cougars in BC and Alberta using five thousand dollar hounds with three thousand dollar collars so that the hunter can literally sit in their big diesel truck and zero in on the cougar on their iPad until the hounds tree it, then go in and shoot the defenceless animal from a tree. It’s neither ethical or ‘fair chase’ as per the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, yet no one ever does anything about it and the vast majority of regular people have no idea that this is happening.

How do you square your own biases in your work? Do you need to?

I do sometimes, particularly when dealing with politicians. But really, I just go where I need to go in terms of my biases. I’m quite open about my dislike for trophy hunting of predators, for trapping using snares, and for other similar issues and make no bones about it. I use science to back up my opinions and to show how biases from the consumptive side have formed and to break down those biases for the average person.

You’ve built up one of the largest social media followings of any photographer in Canada. Is there a weight of responsibility that comes with a following so large? To be careful of what you share? To prevent a social media crush that devolves into bullying?

Absolutely. I try to share messages constantly about conservation and about ethics in photography. I feel it’s a big part of my responsibility as a photographer, otherwise I’m just exploiting the animals I photograph to pay my bills, and that’s never been my goal. I am very careful what I share and rarely give out locations or post current information about wildlife I’ve photographed. As for bullying, that’s a tougher one to manage, because I don’t have control over my followers, so sometimes things do devolve into bullying online. It’s something I’m aware of and try to watch out for to prevent saying something that might end up heading in that direction.

As a storyteller, do you think we, as a society, need more empathy – or less – for those we disagree with?

Tough question. At times I think we need far more empathy, but at other times I think, why should I show empathy to a cougar hunter or a person that shoots wolves from their truck? It’s a balance that’s tough to achieve. I never cross lines in terms of attacking people personally, but I regularly attack belief systems that are flawed (in my opinion) and try to educate on what it is that’s flawed in their thinking. I also regularly ban or block people on my social media that disagree with me, particularly if their statements are not based in fact (e.g. “those wolves kill everything in sight” or “now your children are in danger because you want to stop the hunt”).

What is the one thing you know now that you wish you knew at 15? 

I wish I knew more about conservation issues when I was 15. That we covered stuff like that in school, rather than worrying about 15th century English history.