Wedding - Katie Mitchell

Katie Mitchell

WELCOME TO REALITY. It’s not a concept that we generally feel comfortable with though is it? It hardly fits in with the aesthetic of Instagram’s little squares of perfection... and from what I read, many of us are craving a little more ‘real’, am I right? That being said, today I felt that it was important (even if not popular) to share with you a different side to one of the world’s dreamiest destinations. It’s perhaps worth mentioning that as a photographer there’s no denying that I’m naturally attracted to shoot and share the pretty colours, interesting faces and inspiring places I discover on my travels, but I also feel a duty to document all sides of a story - the good, the bad and sometimes even the ugly. It should go without saying that the Maldives are indeed a STUNNING collection of islands with some of the purest white sands and crystal clear waters I’ve even experienced. Sadly what I also witnessed in parallel to the beauty is that Maldivian beaches and surrounding waters are often littered with rubbish, and a snorkelling trip let me witness with my own eyes what the documentaries are all saying - their coral reefs are dying, if not already dead. The high end resorts can’t escape it either - they probably just get it all cleaned away with more haste than the local islands are able to manage. If you’ve already watched ‘A Plastic Ocean’ and ‘Chasing Coral’ (and if not, they are both currently showing on Netflix) then your heart surely breaks too when you consider the devastating effects the way we treat this earth is having on our precious ecosystems and wildlife. On one afternoon we collected more trash than we could carry in our arms including plastic bags and water bottles, glass, empty food containers, polystyrene cups and neon tubes. That’s not to mention the nappies, razors and other used personal items we felt it unsafe to pick up - a devastating reminder to leave nothing but footprints wherever possible while we roam this earth, and not to turn a blind eye at a time when our planet needs us all to tread more lightly than ever before

Source : https://www.instagram.com/p/bdasdwnjtky

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