National Geographic photographer James Balog has experienced the effects of climate change first-hand while documenting them, putting himself right in the middle of fires and flooding. His celebrated feature film “Chasing Ice” made use of time lapse photography over a period of many years to dramatically illustrate how much glaciers have receded. His new film “The Human Element” proposes that human activity makes up a fifth element in the natural world for its effect upon the other four, Earth, Air, Water and Fire. Once again, spectacular imagery drives home the the sense of urgency that he feels should drive behavioral and political changes to prevent humans from destroying our planet. Arts & Lectures brought him to Santa Barbara for an intensive 2 day residency which included a demonstration/lecture for hundreds of high school students, a roundtable luncheon with local environmental activists, a field trip to the Gaviota area and a free screening of “The Human Element,” sponsored by locals Tim Fisher and family in honor of their son, a producer of the film who recently died. Mr. Balog doesn’t mince words about who is responsible for the impending environmental tragedy, and the kids were all in and very responsive to his message which was puntuated by excerpts from both films. After all, they have the most to lose if the madness doesn’t stop. Like a future.
