Exploring the Monterey Bay Through a Lens and Words
A shared passion for saving and conserving the biodiversity on planet Earth drew them together.
Frans Lanting and wife and partner Chris Eckstrom, a writer and videographer, in Senegal in 2007. Frans Lanting/lanting.com
While Chris Eckstrom found her way to describe the diverse world that human beings inhabit along with thousands of other living beings, through her words, Frans Lanting explored nature's stories through his camera lens.
Having travelled across the globe, exploring the land and ocean communities reporting for National Geographic for more than 30 years, Lanting and Eckstrom wanted to devote their passion and skills to tell the story of the natural heritage in their own backyard–Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay.
Through their new project titled BAY OF LIFE: From Wind To Whales, Lanting and Eckstrom shine light on the connection between the ecosystems on land and sea.
“We’ve worked around the world in a lot of world-class ecosystems and we’ve always known that we’ve had one at our doorstep,” Eckstrom said in conversation with Santa Cruz Works.
From the winds in Spring that attract the whales in Summer to the tiny seabirds that nest in Santa Cruz’s dizzyingly tall redwoods, Eckstorm and Lanting believe that the region’s unique location, dynamic connectivity between land and sea, influenced by the sun, defined by fog and fire, and impacted by people’s actions have turned Monterey Bay into of the richest areas for biodiversity in the world.
Defined by the impact of the vast and deep Pacific Ocean, California’s Monterey Bay is not only a narrow strip of coastline but extends into the Salinas Valley and goes all the way to Gilroy.
“Our vision is to look at Monterey Bay as a whole,” Lanting said. “The future of the marine environment will be determined by all our activities on land and vice versa.”
Lanting added that the decades-long land-based conservation efforts in tandem with the marine conservation movement has turned the story of Monterey Bay into a tale of hope for damaged ecosystems across the globe.
Open Studio Weekend
In an upcoming series of events that are a part of the BAY OF LIFE: From Wind To Whales project, the first one is the OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND on Oct. 1 & 2 and Oct. 15 & 16, at Frans Lanting Studio, Santa Cruz which is a Sneak Peek into the prints used for the Bay of Life project and will include prints that will be displayed in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History on January 21, 2023.
The project views the natural history of the region in the larger context of human occupation since the beginning of time–from Native Americans to Spanish colonizers and American settlers, to the era of Gold Rush right up until the rise of conservation efforts, to the present day.
“It’s a boom and bust story which was actually preceded by a long period of relative balance,” Lanting said.
The Native American communities who lived in this region for thousands of years lived in relative balance with their natural environment and that was an era of abundance. The bust occurred during the time of colonization which stripped both the ocean and land off its biodiversity for short-term profits.
This period was followed by an era of exploitation, about 100-150 years ago, when indiscriminate whaling dried up the marine biodiversity and deforestation during the gold rush threatened the animal kingdom on land.
The project also pays tribute to the conservation efforts and active interventions that have helped not only in rebuilding the ecosystem but also repopulating the ocean and forests.
“It’s a story of restoration that we think is very inspirational,” Eckstrom said.
Please keep an eye out for upcoming events where you can participate, learn, and make a difference in conserving the rich biodiversity of Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz.
You will also get an opportunity to spend a day in nature and learn the art of photography from the renowned Frans Lanting himself in the coming months! See TICKETS for November.
