Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Namsa Leuba, and Nicolas Henry will sell their artwork on the Rhapsody Web3 photography platform.
Today, the European NFT photography platform Rhapsody Curated revealed its collaboration with three of the world’s best fine art photographers. Their works will be issued as NFTs for the first time ever to bring attention to the battle against climate change and raise funds for it.
Fine art photographers created NFTs to battle climate change
The collections by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Nicolas Henry, and Namsa Leuba represent each artist’s first foray into blockchain.
French photographer, filmmaker, and environmentalist Arthus-Bertrand is best known for his acclaimed compilation of aerial photographs titled “Earth From Above.” Henry combines photography, sculpture, and performance art to create immersive environments that investigate themes such as memory, nostalgia, and the passage of time. Leuba is a Swiss-Guinean photographer whose work examines the influence of the Western gaze on African identity; among other labels, Dior, Christian Lacroix, and Nike have commissioned her.
Pierre-Elie de Pibrac, Rhapsody’s Head of Curation, brought the three artists together to mint photo collections on the Ethereum blockchain that reflect their environment. The photographs, which go on sale on May 4, range in price from 2 ETH ($3,685) to 8 ETH ($14,745), and each artist offers between three and six photographs.
Over fifty percent of the sale’s proceeds will be donated to Photoclimat, a French charity that promotes awareness of climate change through photography, primarily through a bi-annual exhibition that has previously attracted millions of visitors to Paris.
Pibrac aimed to expand the outreach of Photoclimat’s mission to previously untapped audiences by persuading the artists involved to mint their works as NFTs, utilizing blockchain.
“It’s difficult to broadcast [our environmental] message,” de Pibrac said_._ “You need to go to Paris, you need to see the art, to begin to communicate the ideas [represented]. But with NFTs, we can broadcast this message to many more people, and use this technology to allow people to buy pieces of art they couldn’t [otherwise] buy.”
“If you’re in New York or Africa, you cannot buy something from France, the impact is too big,” he continued. “But with NFTs, the impact is very low.”
Rhapsody claimed it chose Ethereum’s environmentally friendly reputation to mint the sets. According to the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI), Ethereum transitioned from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in September, reducing its carbon footprint by 99.99%.
The works of Arthus-Bertrand, Leuba, and Henry that were chosen to be sold on Rhapsody are all different in terms of theme and style, but they all convey the importance of combating climate change.
“We all have different styles and approaches when it comes to art, but are sending the same messages of urgency,” Leuba said.
Even though some crypto blockchains have recently transitioned to models that use less energy, crypto remains a hot topic for people who care about the environment.
In a supposedly first-of-its-kind move, Solana began measuring real-time data about its carbon emissions and disclosing it via a public interface last week.
Content Source: decrypt.com
