Canon shines a light on our human footprint

Photographer captures the beating heart of a disappearing glacier to ‘Show Us What’s Possible’


Photo credit: Vaughan Brookfield, The Nameless Project

Sydney, Australia, 22 August, 2017 – Canon Australia is proud to announce the latest iteration of commercial photographer Vaughan Brookfield’s stunning photography series titled The Nameless Project, which is being launched through its ‘Show Us What’s Possible’ platform. The platform encourages creative individuals to pitch their most remarkable imaging ideas to Canon, and turn them into reality.

Having ventured into the wilderness and projected images onto waterfalls and rock formations, Brookfield’s latest The Nameless Project expedition takes us on a journey through Tasman Glacier on New Zealand’s South Island. He wowed the ‘Show Us What’s Possible’ judges when he shared his unique creative concept, which highlights global warming’s disturbing impact on our environment.  

After months of planning, and with Canon Australia supporting the venture, Brookfield’s challenging project was in motion. 

The project consisted of a four-day expedition, where Brookfield and light projectionist Tom Lynch projected stunning visuals onto the glacier. The imagery was shot using the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR camera and EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lenses, and was carefully chosen to highlight the dramatic reduction of Tasman Glacier over the past ten years.

To reinforce their message of environmental threat, the duo projected imagery, using the Canon XEED WUX6010 projector, of a heart beating onto the glacier, bringing it to life. The still projections were then captured by Brookfield and documented by filmmaker Heath Patterson using Canon’s EOS C300 Mark II cinema camera.

Brookfield’s short documentary film on creating his installation has today launched online on the Canon Stories website, along with a gallery of these breathtaking images. 

Through the incredible images of Tasman Glacier, Brookfield hopes people recognise the beauty and fragility of the world around us. 

“At a young age I visited Tasman Glacier and was immediately taken back by its size and magnitude,” says Brookfield. “I’ve since returned only to find it has retreated by more than a kilometre in the past decade. The environment, and the impact humans have on it, has always been close to my heart, and I felt this was an opportunity to highlight this damage in an original way.”


Photo credit: Vaughan Brookfield, The Nameless Project

“Canon makes great products but it’s only in the hands of creative minds like Vaughan Brookfield that we can truly see what they are capable of achieving – they literally show us what’s possible,” says Jason McLean, Canon Australia Director of Consumer Imaging. “We created the Show us What’s possible program as a way to help creative professionals achieve their dream projects through a partnership with us and together stretch the limits of creative achievement.”