Pushing the Envelope: Growing is Forever

I wanted to do a summer/outdoor-themed post, so I pulled a video from the vault that I’ve been meaning to talk about.

The National Parks Conservation Association released this video with their quarterly magazine National Parks earlier this spring. “Growing is Forever” is a visually stunning, poetically written piece about conserving redwood forests in Oregon and California.. and so much more.

Rob Sheppard, editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine and author of The Magic of Digital Nature Photography has said that nature photography is not necessarily about presenting nature as is, but its about creatively capturing the feeling of awe and wonder from experiencing the earth. Jesse Rosten’s beautiful photography could not hold more true to this. As an outdoor enthusiast and amateur nature photographer myself, this video makes me want to scream conservation of those forests from the rooftops. I have been to Forest Park in Portland where some of this video was shot, and it is every bit as pretty and inspiring as Rosten has portrayed it in his film.

Further, this video was made for a non-profit, but there is no mention of that organization or a campaign. There is no fundraising ask, no action to take, and yet its still a phenomenal film that effortlessly pulls at heart strings. As far as environmental and conservation strategy goes (which is hard to make stand out from the crowd and get people to listen to since there are an overwhelming number of orgs out there doing similar work), the trees and forest are presented as the living, breathing life-forms that they are. They take on an almost human quality and you couldn’t dream of a better argument for taking care of and protecting what’s left of the natural world. Its a perfect example of how far non-profits can actually push the envelope of web video.