Today, we celebrate our Director of Storytelling and photographer, Michael O. Snyder, for this incredible achievement. He has been awarded 2nd Place, Human & Environment at the Lumearth International Photo Awards 2026.
For Michael, this recognition goes far beyond the award itself:
“For me, awards like this are less about validation and more about an opportunity for impact and amplification. My hope is that this recognition broadens the conversation about the role cultural heritage preservation plays in climate adaptation.
Storytelling, especially visual storytelling, has a unique power to communicate complex ideas, confront uncomfortable truths, provoke meaningful discussion, foster empathy, and inspire action on today’s most pressing issues. However, environmental storytelling often focuses on loss, victimhood, and the spectacle of suffering. While these realities matter, ‘doom framing’ can paralyze audiences and undermine frontline communities.
Research shows that narratives centered on hope, courage, and solutions are far more effective at inspiring meaningful action. Through the Preserving Legacies project, I focus on stories that highlight how communities around the world are combining innovative science, Indigenous knowledge, and local capacity-building to create solutions, protecting the places we love and creating a future for our past.”
Through Preserving Legacies, Michael’s work documents how communities are bringing together science, local knowledge, and leadership to protect what matters most.
This recognition reinforces what we believe at our core: storytelling is not just about documenting reality, it is a tool to shape conversations, build empathy, and inspire action.
🔗 Discover the award-winning project: /2026/michaelosnyder/preserving-legacies-a-future-for-our-past/
Why this... why now... why you?
Still the most relevant questions that documentary storytellers need to answer.
Thanks @streetphotomag for the wonderful conversation.
Join ZEKE Magazine and SDN at the ICP Photobook Fest
Friday, May 8 – Sunday, May 10
84 Ludlow Street, New York, NY
Tickets available at at /pbf
Special Program
New Photobook Release:
Saturday May 9, 5:30 pm
ICP Library, Floor 2
Michael Synder: "Alleghania: A Central Appalachian Folklore” and
Tanya Marcuse: “VOL. MCCCXXI—MMXXVI 'Deer' ”
With David Campany from ICP and Glenn Ruga from SDN
Presented by ICP and Social Documentary Network
@icp@michaelosnyder
Congratulations to @newhousesu Assistant Professor of Visual Communications @newhouse_vis Michael Snyder | @michaelosnyder |! Snyder was recently awarded a Pulitzer Center Reporting Grant | @pulitzercenter | 📸
The $5,000 grant will support Snyder’s research agenda during his sabbatical, specifically a story he is working on in Tunisia called “The Last Octopus Hunters of Kerkennah.” This project is part of his work with @preservinglegacies .
#teamnewhouse #newhouseimpact #newhousesu
We want to share a window into the behind-the-scenes of Architects of the Earth.
The dedication of our storytellers, community leaders, and scientists has brought this film to life for a global audience, and now the journey comes full circle.
After screening tomorrow at @dcclimateweek@marketplaceofthefuture , the film will return to the community in May, where our Climate Custodians will use it as a tool to strengthen and amplify their climate adaptation efforts for a more resilient future.
This is what excites us most at Preserving Legacies. There is real power when storytelling, rather than entertainment alone, becomes a vehicle for positive change for the people, places, and practices that make us who we are.
Earth Week | Today, we’re looking at Judy Natal‘s project, Future Perfect
@judynatal_libraryexpanded
“Future Perfect” travels backward from the future to the present, exploring three sites shaped by human intervention and ideas of the future.
A Las Vegas desert preserve, Biosphere 2 in Arizona, and Iceland’s geothermal landscapes—though vastly different—together imagine what future environments might become.
The artist shares: “I portray these sites as indications of our future, illuminating the present moment and the choices we have yet to make. At once a cautionary tale and Utopian dream, ‘Future Perfect’ invites and provokes opportunities for reflection and analysis, poetically moving from clear, precise imaging to layers of steam, ambiguity and possibility while examining the global interconnectedness of such strong, yet ultimately fragile and threatened landscapes.”
🔗 Discover all the Earth Week features compiled by Michael O Snyder (@michaelosnyder ) at the link in bio.
State Shift | Works by Meghan Riepenhoff (@meghannriepenhoff )
“State Shift” is a geological term describing dramatic and sudden changes to ecosystems — often when critical thresholds are crossed. I experienced one form of this catalyzing phenomenon in early 2024, when an extreme weather event caused extensive damage to my home and caused a two year subsequent displacement.
The works in “State Shift” were made during this time of displacement, which I used as an opportunity to explore national sites highly compromised by human intervention. The addition of pigments, mushroom ink, and additional materials act as an allegory for the impact of humans on the landscape.
🔗 Read the full feature compiled by Michael O Snyder (@michaelosnyder ) at the link in bio.
Earth Week | Michael Snyder (@michaelosnyder )
“Each year during Earth Week I curate a collection of photographic projects from artists who are working to make the often-invisible nature of the global climate and the ecological crisis more visible using conceptual, lens-based art techniques. The arts – and the visual arts in particular – have a unique capacity to confront audiences with uncomfortable truths, provoke meaningful discussion, foster empathy, and inspire individuals to take action on today’s most pressing issues.”
Today, we’re looking at Chris Jordan’s project, Running the Numbers: Portraits of Human Mass Culture (2004 to 2018).
These bodies of work are linked by this thematic lens: making the often-invisible nature of the global climate and the ecological crisis more visible using conceptual, lens-based art techniques.
🔗 Discover the project at the link in bio.
To wrap up the day at the upcoming Newhouse Impact Symposium, @newhouse_vis Assistant Professor Michael Snyder | @michaelosnyder | will share stories from Preserving Legacies, an initiative funded by @insidenatgeo . 🌎
Climate change is the fastest-growing threat to culturally significant places, and @preservinglegacies focuses on bringing cultural heritage preservation into the climate conversation. Snyder shares how community leaders are combining innovative science, indigenous knowledge, and community capacity building to create a future for our past.
Learn more about the initiative from Prof. Snyder on Friday, April 17, 2026 from 2:50PM–3:05PM. ✨
#teamnewhouse #newhouseimpact #newhousesu
