Michael O. Snyder
President & Filmmaker
Interdependent Pictures
Syracuse, New York
Michael O. Snyder (b. 1981) is a photographer and filmmaker documenting the climate crisis and related social-environmental issues. In addition to creating visual stories, he is deeply interested in how our narratives can help drive social impact.
His work has been featured by outlets such as National Geographic, The Guardian, and The Washington Post. He's been honored by awards such as the Portrait of Humanity Award (Winner), the Decade of Change Award (Winner), The Welcome Prize for Photography (Shortlist), the LensCulture Portrait Awards (Finalist), and the Visualizing Climate Change Award (Winner). Snyder is a Pulitzer Grantee, a Climate Journalism Fellow at the Bertha Foundation, a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, and an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication at Syracuse University's Newhouse School in New York.
Through his production company, Interdependent Pictures, he has directed films in the Arctic, the Amazon, the Himalaya, and East Africa. His films have been selected to over 60 festivals, have taken home numerous awards, have been sponsored by companies such as Sony and GoPro, and have been distributed by outlets such as New Day Films and Films for Change. Michael often lectures on visual storytelling and its potential as a tool for social impact. He has been a featured speaker at the United Nations Climate Conference and has lectured at universities such as Yale, Columbia, and the Alfred Wegener Institute. In 2022, the University of Edinburgh named him one of its most “influential alumni making a significant contribution to climate science and justice.”
