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For over fifty years, Egidio Trainito has observed the sea through his lens. A nature photographer, expert in sustainable tourism development, and actively involved in conservation projects within Marine Protected Areas, he has dedicated his life to documenting marine ecosystems and the intricate relationships that make them so extraordinary.

Yet his work goes far beyond capturing the beauty of the Mediterranean. Rather, Trainito seeks to convey a more complex vision of nature, one shaped by invisible balances, fragilities, and transformations that often go unnoticed.

A Perspective That Keeps Evolving

Throughout his long career, Trainito’s way of looking at the world has evolved alongside photography itself. From his early days working in black and white, developing and printing photographs by hand, to the digital era, every stage has left its mark on his approach.

“I started fifty years ago working in black and white and printing my own photographs. It was a fundamental school,” he recalls. “Then I moved on to slide film, which forced you to build the image at the moment of shooting. At some point, however, everything changed: the world, the way we travel, the context in which photography is produced. And that inevitably changed the way I look at things, too.”

Today, what continues to guide him is the search for a different perspective, one free from familiar patterns. “I still seek an alien’s gaze, not a human one,” he explains. “Even in a place I have seen a thousand times, I ask myself why I have never seen that image before. It’s not about where you go, but how you look.”

In recent years, his attention has increasingly shifted from individual species to the relationships that connect them. A change that also reflects the evolution of scientific understanding of ecosystems.

“I am interested in observing relationships, not individual organisms,” he says. “Even just two organisms living together raise enormous questions. What we perceive as an individual is often the result of relationships built over millions of years.”

For Trainito, this perspective radically changes the way we interpret the sea. Ecosystems are not made up of isolated elements, but of complex and interconnected systems of which we still understand only a small part.

Beyond Aesthetic Representation

At a time when the sea is often portrayed through spectacular and reassuring images, Trainito believes photography should take on a broader responsibility.

“If we only show the aesthetic side, we create a distorted perception,” he observes. According to him, images should also reveal what normally remains hidden: degradation, biodiversity loss, and damaged habitats.

For this reason, alongside photographs of marine landscapes and species, he has spent years building an archive of images documenting the wounds inflicted on ecosystems. It is a deliberate choice, driven by the need to tell the whole story.

A Change That Is Increasingly Visible

The transformations taking place within marine ecosystems are now evident to anyone willing to look. Climate change, extreme events, and mounting pressures on natural systems are profoundly reshaping the Mediterranean and the world's oceans.

Yet, according to Trainito, the problem is not only environmental.

“The change is evident, but it is often not perceived in its true scale,” he explains. “The biggest problem is the gap between what we say and what is actually happening.”

A gap that is also reflected in conservation policies, which are often subordinated to economic interests and development models that are difficult to reconcile with ecosystem protection.

Nature’s Time, Humanity’s Time

Among the subjects Trainito has documented most extensively in recent years is Savalia savaglia, commonly known as the Mediterranean gold coral. This remarkable organism can live for centuries, even millennia, creating complex habitats that support countless other species.

Its vulnerability offers a powerful illustration of the relationship between human activities and nature.

“All it takes is a fishing line to destroy everything,” he says. “That is where you truly see the contrast between extremely long natural timescales and immediate human impacts.”

The comparison he draws is particularly striking: when a work of art is damaged, public outrage quickly mobilises resources and restoration efforts. In nature, however, what is destroyed often cannot be rebuilt.

“We cannot reconstruct what we destroy,” he stresses. “Yet we still do not do enough to protect these habitats.”

What Can We Learn from the Sea?

Observing the sea also means confronting forms of coexistence that are very different from those that characterise human societies.

“In the sea, we observe systems based on ecological relationships, not hierarchies or control,” Trainito explains. “They are balances built over time, shaped by interdependence.”

It is a lesson in humility. Despite scientific and technological progress, there are still countless aspects of marine ecosystems that we do not fully understand. For this reason, he argues, the first step should be learning to observe more carefully what is already in front of us.

The Challenge of Conservation

When it comes to global biodiversity protection goals, such as the 30x30 target aimed at protecting 30% of the planet’s land and sea by 2030, Trainito remains cautious.

While acknowledging the importance of positive experiences—such as the work carried out in Montenegro to protect some of the Mediterranean’s most important Savalia savaglia sites—he worries that numerical targets may become little more than declarations of intent.

“The risk is that 30x30 becomes just another flag to wave: something that can be announced, but that does not truly change the condition of ecosystems.”

Because the challenge of conservation is not simply about numbers and percentages. It is about the way we choose to see nature and the value we decide to assign to it. And perhaps, as Trainito suggests, the most urgent change is learning to look at the sea not only for its beauty, but for the complexity of the relationships that keep it alive.

Photo: Egidio Trainito