A young artist-activist talks about the importance of pollinators and empathy.

Michelle Magdalena Maddox, 28, is a face-to-face person, eyes lively and blue and amplified by the freckles and red hair and towering stature that doesn’t need those heels.

So she’s in her element at the first Carmel Arts Alive in the Mundaka restaurant complex March 5, meeting with fellow creators, travelers and lovers of paint, photography and music. At one point she pauses between conversations and summons something guttural, her own assessment of the nascent event: “It’s aaaaaaaliiiiive!” she bellows.

The gifted photographer – whose stunning portraits include Japanese faces post-Fukushima and black-and-whites of a dozen women wrapping limbs around one another in a huge milk-filled tub, all visible at brand new www.michellemagdalena.com – acknowledges later that the event marked new life for her.

At previous group exhibitions, she says, she was more preoccupied with the success of her own work; this time, her focus spontaneously shifted to overall vibrancy. But community mindedness isn’t new to Maddox in greater contexts: She has long practiced activism in causes ranging from GMO-free foods to plastic bans, all while volunteering relentlessly for local benefits. Her current cause is protecting pollinators. For more on the effort, visit Butterfly Barricade on Facebook.

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How did you get to this point in your life?

My dad died when I was 21. I witnessed that very vividly. It changed my value system forever. A doctor told me environment and heritage cause cancer. We can’t change our heritage, but I thought about those who use the environment like it’s available for their disposal. We have to protect nature because we are nature. We’re fighting against ourselves when we ignore it – that’s why we see bees and butterflies dying.

What is the most available lesson to be taken from every single photograph?

Emotion. The active participation is empathy.

Distill the relationship between the camera and your eye.

My eye? The point is what the people are seeing. The most powerful tool is to tell a story that they wouldn’t otherwise see. Or trigger a memory that transports people to a creative, imaginary place.

What is the toughest thing to capture?

Consciousness and awareness. Fun and games. That’s really important too. Life can be so serious. We can’t forget the closest we were to our souls was as children. That’s what could sell consciousness. Recreating our existence on this planet could be fun. The unity and excitement of rebuilding! Cleaning up our act, cleaning up shop, is fun. When there’s a natural disaster and people are unified by it, human spirit comes together and it is more invigorating than anything else.

Where would you direct activist attention?

I would direct it toward legislation. Our food industry is run by the corporations that control the government, but with enough voices and awareness, things can change. Send a postcard or make a phone call. You can go to the Indiegogo site for Butterfly Barricade and order postcards, seed kits and talk to Congresspeople on the ag subcommittee in the House. Tell them Saving America’s Pollinator Act (HR 2692) is important.

And toward tangible impact. That’s when people feel connected. Pacific Grove residents get together to plant milkweed here. That’s the design of our pollinator’s campaign. We can’t trust the government to eliminate neonicotinoids in the Central Valley and the corn belt, but we can create islands where pollinators are nourished and procreate and continue.

People don’t realize caring and recognizing it’s an issue is already tangible.

Where will photography be in 10 years?

An investment market. Things have been so outward, I think it will become more private, more exclusive.

And sustainability?

There’s going to be more of a global community attitude. Everyone will be made accountable for themselves. We’re gonna run out of places to hide shit. It’s going to start leaking out of every corner and crevice.

And you?

(Sings) Marriiieed! Kidding. I’m gonna be grounding down and flying up.