Meet Evan Barrientos | Conservation Photographer and Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Evan Barrientos and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Evan, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve always wanted to help conserve nature. I started my career in ecology and wildlife biology with field jobs around the United States. At the root of each conservation issue I worked on, I saw a lack of awareness or appreciation of nature. During that time, I was becoming increasingly passionate about photography and filmmaking as a way to support conservation. For many years it was just a hobby, but in 2018, I decided to commit my career to it when I accepted a communications position at the National Audubon Society. In 2020, I founded Evan Barrientos Multimedia LLC to provide freelance photography and filmmaking to other conservation organizations.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
In 2016, I decided that I didn’t want to just take pretty pictures of places and animals that people already loved. As a person concerned about the decline of nature, I want my photos to raise support for under-appreciated places and species. I’ve always rooted for the underdogs. This is one reason that half of my work focuses on prairies and the sagebrush steppe. Compared to mountains and forests, these places are often overlooked and avoided. Similarly, I spend more time photographing insects and plants than birds and mammals because they provide the foundation for all other animals to survive on.

Another important issue I’m focused on is the role of fire in Colorado’s forests. This is obviously a big issue, but not in the way it’s traditionally been conveyed. Wildfires are becoming larger, but it’s mainly because the natural fires that kept forests healthy for millennia have been suppressed for more than a century. In 2020, I started a long-term multimedia project, called Fireforest (www.fireforestphoto.com), to bring a more nuanced and holistic understanding of this issue.

Getting to where I am now in multimedia has been an 18-year-long journey spanning eight states and three countries. The diversity of those experiences helped me see both differences and commonalities in conservation challenges and their solutions. It also brought me in the path of excellent conservation photographers whose approaches inspired mine, specifically, Chris Helzer, Mike Forsberg, Dave Showalter, and Mac Stone.

I think the most important lesson they all taught me was the importance of place and longevity. To make great images that have lasting impacts, you need to have roots in a place. You need to build relationships with people, landscapes, and animals. You need to know the local issues well and invest years in them. That’s why after moving to Fort Collins, (my seventh move in four years), I decided to stay here, put down roots, and commit myself to the prairies and forests of northern Colorado.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I like to show people the diversity of Colorado’s landscape, from its beautiful prairies up to the alpine lakes, hopefully with some tubing on the Poudre River too. I think the best food in Fort Collins is found in the Mexican food trucks, so we’d probably sample those.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents fostered my love of nature that led me to where I am today. While neither of them come from backgrounds in conservation, they took me to all the different natural areas I was eager to explore as a child. Not everyone has parents who are willing or able to do that, so for their time and encouragement, I am grateful.

Website: https://evanbarrientos.com/

Instagram: instagram.com/evanbarrientosphotography/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-barrientos/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/evanmbarrientos

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvanBarrientosPhotography

Other: https://www.fireforestphoto.com/

Image Credits
Emma Balunek, Richard Swaback, Evan Barrientos