Bio

​Philip Jessup has worked for many years to create low carbon economies in world cities, including Toronto where he served as executive director of The Atmospheric Fund for nine years. Realizing that photography can deepen public awareness of climate threats to the planet, he is now documenting the beauty and fragility of threatened landscapes—especially coastal marshlands and islands.
Phil has exhibited his work in Toronto, Montréal, London, U.K., Washington DC, Louisville, and New Orleans. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London recently selected a large cibachrome, Flooded Tree (2005), for its seminal retrospective, Into the Woods: Trees in Photography. The V&A and several international corporations collect his work. Phil also takes on selected commissions for foundations and charities.

Statement - ​Marshlands—Sian Ka’an

​Phil is now surveying marshlands including Ontario’s Minesing Wetlands, coastal swamps in Terrebone Parish, Louisiana, and the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Sea level rise is accelerating, according to a recent U.S. National Academy of Sciences report. Seas could rise three-to-five feet by 2100, inundating many of these low-lying coastal marshland areas. Climate change is also adding stresses to inland marshes like Minesing, causing substantial die off of valuable woodlands.
The Ramsar listed mangroves of Sian Ka’an represent a recent major shoot. Mangroves play an important role as protective transition zones between ocean and land, saltwater and freshwater. They serve as buffers from hurricanes and extreme weather, soaking up the energy of approaching storms, and also provide valuable ecosystem services. Their roots produce tannic acid, which flows out to the ocean and protects coral reefs from damaging UVB radiation. Finally, they provide valuable tourist resources, generating important revenue for local villages in Sian Ka’an.
Phil is particularly attracted to the visual chaos that mangrove trees and roots exhibit. This is nature at its finest, creating a valuable ecosystem out of haphazard and unpredictable advancement.