REWILDING PATAGONIA: LAURENCE ELLIS

Before us, there was no wild—everything simply was. Water rushed through springs untapped; greenery carpeted forest floors untrodden. In an age of technological ease, we’ve come to imagine that the word wild connotes inhospitable landscapes, creatures to fear, and untameable energy. But when we view the history of the world as a whole, we realize that wildness is neutral. It’s the default condition of humanity and of all life, that in the grand scheme of things, we’ve only just become alienated from. To be wild is to be self-determined, to be in a state of change, to accept the unknown.

The practice of rewilding is actually quite passive. It’s about relinquishing control—letting nature tend to its own wounds. There’s no set path to this process; no ecosystem is uniform. The main objective is to reverse humanity’s undue influence: introducing species that we made extinct, removing dams that restricted rivers, restoring the curves of farmed earth, cultivating ponds with local vegetation, and in between, doing nothing.

Photographer Laurence Ellis sought a closer look at the communities carrying out this vital work, taking to Argentina’s Patagonia Park and to Chile’s Cochamó Valley. Through his lens, he introduces beyond noise to the landscapes, wildlife, individuals, and organizations that sustain life across these South American regions, forging a path toward a future at one with the wild.