Jesse Burke’s call to nature with Wild & Precious film
This year’s World Environment Day focuses on connecting people to nature and urging us all to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share. To celebrate this, we bring you this emotional and moving short film by Tea & Water Pictures photographer Jesse Burke.
Unplugging ourselves from technology and exploring our environment a little bit more often, with a little bit more love and curiosity for all the natural wonders around us, is what Jesse wants to inspire in people through his three-minute film.
The video, part of his wider Wild & Precious project, beautifully captures some of the road trip adventures he and his daughter Clover took across the U.S. over five years, in an effort to “instil in her a deep and personal connection to nature”.
“I want this project to appeal to the world and it has come along at the right time, when these subjects are becoming increasingly important,” says Jesse. “Hopefully it offers an easy, accessible way to connect to the planet.”
The video includes an off-camera ode by Jesse, with such heartfelt lines as: “I sit here listening to the crickets singing you to sleep and wonder if you’re dreaming of salamanders or sunsets. We’ve been roaming all day, and long into the night, out in the feral woods.”
Jesse says the film was like witnessing magic in many ways. “It was the first time I had worked on a close personal project with motion. It was incredible to see the still works come to life.”
We are more likely to care for the things we love and see as important, and by connecting to nature, we’ll all remember to love it a bit more. Protecting our Earth for future generations feels just as much about instiling in children a deep connection to nature as it is about collaborative agreements between nations. And films like Wild & Precious seem more important now than ever – to help open the door, start a conversation and encourage action to protect our planet.
