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The Human Element

The Human Element

2018 USA / Duration: 74 mins
Directed by: Matthew Testa

“I can’t escape the fact that coal made me who I am today,” says photographer James Balog, whose grandfather died, at 62, in a coal-mining accident. Balog has chronicled one climate change consequence of human coal use in Chasing Ice (Mountainfilm 2012), and narrated a film documenting another in Message in a Bottle (Mountainfilm 2016). In The Human Element, he ponders “the fifth element” (after water, earth, air and fire). By changing the other four elements, he says, humans are “shaping the Earth as we know it.” Balog documents this collision between people and nature through stories ranging from Chesapeake Bay’s dwindling Tangier Island to California’s record-breaking wildfires of 2017 to last summer’s three devastating hurricanes.

Mountainfilm 2018 Official Selection
    • Matthew Testa Director

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If you would like to learn more or to take action, please follow these links to see what our partner organizations are doing. Let's help create a better world.

Earth Vision Institute

Earth Vision Institute (EVI), founded by photographer and scientist James Balog in 2012, is a donor-funded organization that is dedicated to creating, publishing, and sharing world-class visual stories and rich media content, educating global citizens about the impact of environmental change on the world.

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