The project began with a simple, haunting question: had anyone ever died defending the environment? A quick search revealed a dedicated page to environmental killings on Wikipedia, as well as articles in The Guardian and BBC News. This wasn’t something I knew about or could see in the news on a daily basis; yet, according to Global Witness—an NGO that investigates environmental destruction and human rights abuses—a total of 2,253 defenders were killed or disappeared between 2012 and 2024. These are not just statistics; they are individuals who stood up against illegal logging, destructive mining, and the theft of ancestral lands.

Defenders is a project dedicated to those who lost their lives in the struggle to protect the natural world.

Using photos of selected defenders found on the internet, I decided to create their portraits applying emulsion made from plants and sunlight, to spark a conversation about this global issue. Working with leaves, petals or fruit connects me to the natural world those defenders tried to protect.

Each portrait is as fleeting as the ecosystems these people fought for.