The Power Of Photographs

Rolex's partnership with conservation photographers Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, the Perpetual Planet Initiative is about to harness one nature's most primal forces: our emotions

- JONATHAN HO

SPEAKING TO WILD FOR LIFE, Paul Nicklen said he found photography through frustration. The Canadian photographer and marine biologist had grown tired of "turning his research into data for the spreadsheets" while watching the gap grow between the science he loved and the public's knowledge of environmental issues. He shared, "It essentially cost me my job because I refused to put my camera down and it started to drive my colleagues nuts."

Receiving more than 30 of the highest awards given to photographers in his field, including the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the prestigious World Press Photo for photojournalism, Nicklen uses his vivid images of our planet's frontiers by expressing its raw beauty and fragility - with a focus on the oceans - to signal the threats confronting them. His work is celebrated for illuminating the link between biodiversity loss and climate change, and depicting how our precious ecosystems are being pushed to the brink of destruction.

Growing up in landlocked Cuernavaca in Mexico, Cristina Mittermeier was also not a photographer by profession.Mittermeier was enthralled by the ocean when her dad first took her to the coast. Going on to study marine science, Mittermeier soon realised the critical challenges faced by the planet's oceans.