Film artist, photographer, and author Lucas Foglia shares his professional experiences and insights.
Lucas Foglia perceives nature in a unique way that challenges the ideas people commonly express on important themes like climate change. His photographic art shows something special that requires no instruction to see.
One of Foglia’s new projects, Constant Bloom, reveals the secrets of the longest-known butterfly migration and the human connection to it. The painted ladies’ ten-generation journey from Kenya to Norway and back begins with scientists in Barcelona and ends in a special kind of human connection. This is a story about butterfly migration, climate resilience, and cross-border ecology.
Foglia’s previous photographic work explores themes that further establish connections between humans and nature. In A Natural Order, he captures people living off-grid in the southeastern United States in the aftermath of the global recession. Front Country goes on a journey exploring the stories of ranching and mining in the American West. Human Nature explores how neuroscience and climate science join forces to document how green space reshapes human brains and communities. Art from these projects shows how interconnected humans are to the natural world.
Foglia’s depiction of prison reform in his art projects shows that the power of artistic imagery lies in the trust and respect between the model and the artist. In one photograph, a large man is gently coaxing a chick onto his palm in the barbed-wire garden of Rikers Island. These prisoners understood that this therapeutic garden would help improve their well-being. In one sense, Foglia’s work advocates for marginalized populations and prison reform. It takes a team of visual storytellers to make these things happen.
Many artistic trends are dictated by the algorithms of digital platforms. Forced Instagram aesthetics leave no room for ambiguity. Real art begins with “huh” and develops into a “wow.” The best children’s art puts us in places via castles or jungles, but also creative places we haven’t seen before. Folks from Norway’s West Fjords say a painting in an art book depicts a lake cabin in Maine. This is reminiscent of place-specific interpretation and journeying from “huh” to “wow” via certain ambiguity.
Some social issues have multiple layers. Look at art pieces that make you want to get outside or give you a whole new take on that empty lot down the street. Choosing your subject wisely enhances the efficacy of your message. For aspiring filmmakers and photographers, Foglia’s best advice is to avoid chasing the loudest headline and craft a counterpoint that hooks into current events while opening up a wider lens for appreciation over time. One honest question, crafted into art, could spark an organic chain of cause and effect more powerful than multiple unsigned numbers.
In short, Lucas Foglia helps people see nature anew by respecting people across all walks of life. From butterflies traveling from Kenya to Norway to prisoners raising chicks in prison gardens, people and nature interconnect through Foglia’s masterful visual storytelling talent.
Purchase a copy of Constant Bloom here!
