Celebrating our 20th Anniversary

Orin Langelle

Co-Founder | Global Justice Ecology Project
Co-Founder | Campaign to Stop GE Trees 

Background
Orin Langelle co-founded Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP) and serves as a consultant. He is also the Director of Langelle Photography and sits on the Steering Committee of the Campaign to Stop GE Trees, which he co-founded in 2014.

Activism & Initiatives

  • Engaged in social justice movements since the 1960s, starting with opposition to the Vietnam War.
  • Earned a B.A. in Media and Communications from Webster University and trained as a photojournalist at the International Center of Photography under Cornell Capa (1977-1978).
  • Led campaigns halting logging in the Shawnee National Forest, Illinois’ Trail of Tears State Forest, and Forest 44 in Saint Louis in the late 1980s.
  • Co-founded the international Native Forest Network in Tasmania, Australia in 1992, and its Eastern North American Resource Center in Vermont in 1993.
  • Organized the First North American Temperate Forest Conference in 1993, attended by over 500 activists.
  • Supported the Abenaki struggle for state recognition in Vermont and documented Cree resistance to Hydro-Quebec’s dam plans in James Bay, Quebec.
  • Advocated for the indigenous Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico since 1994, documenting their resistance and environmental impacts.
  • Co-founded ACERCA: Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America in 1998.
  • Coordinated protests against genetically engineered (GE) trees, including actions at industry conferences and the formation of the STOP GE Trees Campaign in 2004.
  • Documented global protests and conferences on climate change, forest conservation, and biodiversity at United Nations forums from 2005 onwards.
  • Co-founded Climate Justice Now! in Bali, Indonesia in 2007 and co-organized protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the Iraq War.
  • Founded the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery for Contemporary Art in Buffalo, NY in 2014, showcasing his photographs of social and ecological struggles worldwide.
  • Awarded the Exhibition Award at CEPA Gallery in Buffalo in 2016 for his solo show “Portraits of Struggle.”


Photography Statement

Orin Langelle captures “the decisive moment” in his photography, aiming to document social injustices linked to land struggles and inspire action.

Explore Orin Langelle’s work at PhotoLangelle.org.

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