MISSION
70 Degrees West
A human designed line seen mostly on maps and globes, 70º west longitude represents a single slice of our vast and colorful world. Spanning from pole to pole, 70 Degrees West is a photo-documentary project that uses this line to illustrate the impact our modern world has on eight unique regions and the people who connect with these environments. Realizing the vulnerability of habitats and cultures along a line of longitude demonstrates a fraction of a larger truth: the natural world and cultural ways of life are endangered on a global level.
We live on a planet of unparalleled beauty that has given rise to a place of magic and wonder. Though human beings posses a wealth of wisdom for extraordinary and exceptional creativity and transformation, we are simultaneously drawing from the force that gives us life, our natural world. Photographer Justin Lewis and writer Michelle Stauffer intend to expand global awareness of cultures and environments by capturing the extreme landscape as it changes from ice sheets to Amazonian forests while giving a voice to the battles each region faces both environmentally and socially. Journeying into the heart of a community will allow us to illustrate intimate stories of struggle, adaptation and survival that the wider world needs to see. Through photography and written narratives, this project will broadcast essential information in order to preserve the habitats, cultures, diversity and richness of life on Earth.
70 Degrees West 