Glenn Lockitch
Artist Bio
Glenn Lockitch holds a Masters in Visual Arts (Photojournalism) and is an independent human rights and environmental photojournalist. He has photographed in Australia and overseas for 27 years and does not photograph nor allow his photos to be used in anything that contradicts with his values and conscience, including for unethical media, environmentally destructive or anti-human rights businesses. South African born, Glenn grew up during the apartheid period and had family who opposed and were targeted by the legalised racist system – this early experience profoundly influenced Glenn developing a deep sense of justice, expressed through his photojournalism.
His photos have been widely exhibited and published in Australian and global media and won Reportage Photojournalism Festival (2005). He has been a finalist in other
awards including the New York Photo Festival Book Category (2009); coproduced Cross Projections and was a Walkley Awards jurist (2016). Since 2010, he has also taught photojournalism and photography at the Australian Centre for Photography, the National Art School and Sydney Photographic Workshops.
Artist Statement
These photos depict the direct-actions and daily life on board two Sea Shepherd Antarctic anti-whaling campaigns, Operation Waltzing Matilda (2009/10) and Operation Zero Tolerance (2012/13).
Founded in 1977, Sea Shepherd, a direct action marine conservation organisation, sailed to Antarctica eleven times between 2005 and 2017 to stop Japanese whaling. Through its campaigns Sea Shepherd has directly help save the lives of over 6,000 whales and was a major thorn in the side of the Japanese whaling operations.
Using a loophole in the International Whaling Commission laws governing Antarctic whaling, Japan has repeatedly claimed ‘research’ as a justifiable reason for their whaling operations. No credible academically peer reviewed research has ever been produced by the Japanese whalers. Each year Japan set their own quota of 1,035 whales to be killed. Japan has ceased whaling in the Antarctic waters, citing Sea Shepherd as one of the main reasons. They now whale a reduced number of whales within their own territorial waters.
Since these two depicted campaigns, Glenn Lockitch photographed on board the last Sea Shepherd campaign, Operation Nemesis 2016/17.