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The story behind TIME’s cover photo of Greta Thunberg

by 26 Comments

Young climate activist Greta Thunberg was named TIME Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year. So, of course, this year’s issue of Person of the Year has her portrait on the cover. The photo was taken by Russian photographer Evgenia Arbugaeva, who shared some details and recalled the experience of meeting and photographing Greta in Portugal.

Evgenia says that it was not an easy task to prepare for this shoot. “When TIME asked me to photograph Greta, I was thinking how can I make a portrait that combines gentleness and at the same time courage,” she said. “How do I capture the intense, focused gaze inwards as well as outwards, which I feel is characteristic of Greta?”

But you gotta start somewhere, and Evgenia started with creating a mood board. According to TIME, it contained references “from Botticelli, Monet, Norse mythology, tarot cards, and Romantic period art.”

The photographer came to Portugal before Greta Thunberg. The young activist was still at sea, and it gave Evgenia time to scout for a perfect location. She found a quiet beach in Lisbon, with “almost no people besides some fishermen.” Considering how much people surround Greta wherever she goes, this location seemed ideal. It would give them the privacy and peace they needed.

On the day of the shoot, Greta arrived at the location in a Tesla rented for this occasion. The sun was going down, which created a golden light and pink sky. At the same time, as Evgenia recalls, “ocean tide was rising and waves were raging around her.”

“Greta stood tall and strong without moving, just a few strands of her hair fluttering in a gentle breeze. She looked straight ahead into the ocean she just crossed. At this moment it felt as if all nature elements and forces aligned to create the magic—the most treasured gift for a photographer.”

It seems like everything got together perfectly for Evgenia and Greta that day. The ocean and the sky combined create the sense of simultaneous gentleness and strength, the two traits photographer also captured in Greta. So, I believe that both are pleased with the result and that Evgenia managed to photograph the young activist exactly as she wanted.

You can read the full story on TIME Magazine’s website, and also find out more about this year’s Person of the Year here. Make sure to check out Evgenia Arbugaeva’s work, as she creates truly remarkable photographic stories.

[via TIME; image credits: European Parliament on Flickr]

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  • What they don’t show you she walk past rubbish on the beach and didn’t pick it up

    • #boringcommentisboring

    • Jeff Greene

      Very hard to take you seriously when you don’t bother to use proper grammar and punctuation…

  • Politics aside etc… I just wish the photographer used a faster shutter speed in that shot. I’m not putting the photographer down. I just think it’s a good shot that could’ve been better.

  • Huh.

  • Little disappointed. Thought it would be a little more dramatic

  • Can’t believe this child is a person of the year but hey all the standards in the media are rolling down the hill. For the photo – very flat, lacking drama that surrounds Greta. Whas there no better way to connect her with climat change in one image?

  • kind of surprised to see a credible media photoshop out the strings from the puppet of the year picture actually… 🤦‍♂️ not that the subject isn’t important of course but it’s a sad day when a child that is so blatently manipulated from birth and pushed into the media with the weight of the world on her shoulders becomes person of the year.. we are all enablers in this situation… pretty sad to see.

  • She can smile.

  • She has no credibility whatsoever. If you need brain surgery, you dont go to a high school drop out. She has written no peer reviewed papers. She is nothing more than a Chicken Little interloper.

  • China and India are laughing at this picutre

    • John Harper (AE5X)

      So am I.

  • What’s up with young women with a cause (who aren’t necessarily good looking) and mostly middle aged men and their faux outrage… the do nothing, no good, did nothing but have infinite wisdom to bless us all with? Seriously is she a Mirror?

    • Bhavin Shah all she did was talk and offered no Solutions, should young people be rewarded for no accolades, I can name you 100 people who deserve this were her age and older then she, let’s start with the Hong Kong protestor who 16 years old who got shot in the eye

    • Jason Artiga yes it helps if we talk about them all… but to talk about one doesn’t mean you have to talk down the other… worst are the people who do nothing but have an opinion and criticism about everyone else.

  • The Irony

  • The front page for their useless person of the year should be this gif😉

  • We have to remember that Time’s standard for the Person of the Year is not virtuous people but simply people who produced any type of significant impact in the world. Hitler was one time their person of the year. That said, there are much more noteworthy people this year than this kid. The decision to make her a person of the year looks political.

  • Nothing triggers white, misogynistic, conservative men like an ambitious, progressive female. Until that changes, the world is doomed.

  • Steve S

    I don’t know anything about this young lady, so I won’t state my opinion of her. I will say that TIME Magazine’s choices of POTY designations have been wishy-washy over the years. The best example was 1938’s person of the year was none other than Adolph Hitler. Time (no pun intended) will tell if their choice this year works out.

  • suruha

    Hate mongers! The majority of these comments are hateful!
    What is the matter with you people?! If nothing else, she is rallying the youth of the world to stand up and do what they can! It’s better than a world of young people who don’t care! This is their future!
    Grow up!

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