The idea was simple: capture the essence of the Canadian Rockies from Calgary to Vancouver. In a world where wildfires, climate change, and human encroachment threatened their splendor, the project aimed to document not just their beauty, but their resilience.
The first stop was Banff, where the peaks loomed like silent guardians over turquoise lakes. Marcel woke before dawn to capture the first light hitting Lake Louise, the reflection of the mountains shimmering in the still waters. But alongside this beauty, he photographed the scars: fallen trees from past wildfires, a stark reminder of nature’s fragility.
Driving westward, Marcel encountered the Icefields Parkway, a highway that seemed to cut through the heart of the Rockies. He stopped frequently, setting up his tripod to capture glaciers glinting in the sun. The Columbia Icefield, once vast and seemingly eternal, now receded into the distance, a victim of warming temperatures. Marcel framed his shots to include not just the ice, but the bare rock left behind, a testament to the urgency of climate action.
In Jasper, he met a group of conservationists working tirelessly to protect the native wildlife. Marcel spent days with them, documenting their efforts to safeguard caribou and grizzly bears whose habitats were shrinking. One morning, he captured a poignant image of a mother bear and her cubs, the mountains rising behind them like a promise of hope.