julien nonnon raises awareness by projecting endangered animals onto alpine mountains

‘crying animals,’ is the new photographic series by french artist julien nonnon, which aims to generate attention to the possible disappearance of symbolic animals from our mountains landscapes. by projecting their image onto vast alpine cliff-faces, the main concept behind the project is to show the public that the lives of these species in their natural habitat is in serious peril.

all images courtesy of julien nonnon

the ambitious idea uses gigantic images of the most endangered species from alpine countries: wolf, lynx, bear, hawk, ibex, bearded vulture… in both an aesthetic and engaging approach. the digital artist wants to not only reveal their beauty using light but also to send a strong message. ‘by the ephemeral nature of my luminous frescoes,’ explains the artist, ‘I wish to make the public aware of the fact that the presence of these animals, in these natural environments, is really threatened.’

after his previous urban performances, ‘#le_baiser‘ and ‘safari urbain,’ which illuminated the cities of orlando, madrid, stockholm, hong kong and paris, nonnon has left the urban city for the alps. inspired by paleolithic artists, whose drawings followed the shapes of rock walls, he patiently identifies the most appropriate places and locations for projecting animals in the natural backdrop. the result is a huge image projected onto rocky cliffs several hundred meters high. through his art, nonnon presents ‘crying animals’ in an effort to enliven support for these beautiful but endangered species.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom