A woman, Sarah J Hughes, with blonde curly hair wearing a gray jacket, blue jeans, and black boots is kneeling on a railroad track in a forested area, taking a photograph with a large camera lens, smiling.

Meet Sarah

Sarah J Hughes is a photographer and writer living in Shawnigan Lake, BC, which is on the traditional lands and territories of Cowichan Tribes, Lake Cowichan First Nation, Malahat First Nation, and Pauquachin First Nation. She worked as Managing Editor for a local magazine, Concrete Garden, for three years before moving east to Halifax, Nova Scotia to pursue a Masters degree. Since COVID, she has worked in federal government as a policy analyst on endangered species and Indigenous reconciliation files. After a brief hiatus from writing, Sarah is returning with an appetite to combat misinformation in digital spaces, and in an act of rebellion, is writing things old-school—without AI. Her photography is focused on local movements trying to combat species and habitat loss, while also capturing the beauty of the natural world.

Sarah has an MA in Marine Management from Dalhousie University and a BA in Environmental Studies and Creative Writing at the University of Victoria. She was awarded the Marine Affairs Millennium Prize Interdisciplinarian of the Year, in 2019.

SAY HELLO
SAY HELLO
A woman, Sarah J Hughes, kneeling and smiling at a goat behind a wooden fence, with goats and other animals visible in the background.

My Story

Originally born in Montreal, Quebec, I have lived in five Canadian provinces and also spent eight years in Costa Rica. My dad moved the family down to a remote beach town in search of new beginnings, uprooting our Canadian lives to become Gringo “expats”. My three siblings and I attended school in the local village of Marbella, where pigs roamed the courtyard, chickens entered classrooms, and the largest spider I’ve ever seen in my life made me cry on the first day.

My education and life experiences helped develop my writing and photography skills, and shaped my passion for environmental conservation. As a freelancer I write on a gamut of environmental topics, including sustainable food endeavours, aquaculture innovations, and local conservation wins. I strive to tell stories that capture the essence and complexities of conservation sciences, policy development, and the holistic management needed to protect the planet’s remaining natural resources and cultural spaces. Always with respect for Indigenous and local community voices, and recognizing the intersection of environmental issues and social justice, my aim is to increase public awareness of 21st century problems and visibility of the under-highlighted work in conservation sciences.

@sjhughesphotography

Lounging blood star. This starfish caught my eye as it looked like it was lounging in the kelp, or stuck in a slow-mo run. Seeming how it’s the long weekend, I’d prefer to think it’s lounging. @ikelite @canoncanada #bloodstar #u
Website is live! Thank you so much to @begood.design for working so hard on bringing my website vision to life! I’m so happy with how it turned out and proud to have worked with a women run and owned team here in the valley. Check it out in
🌸🌱🐦 With the Spring Equinox here comes the arrival of another of my favourite birds, swallows! It’s a delight to see them darting and swooping around the lake and over the fields. Soon they’ll be nesting and fledgling swallows will be
Last weekend I drove up Island to take my camera on a little underwater sojourn. We were blessed with sunny weather, which offered plenty of natural light in the shallows. Pictured here are two sites I freedove, the Copper Bluffs and a shallow wreck.
Happy Valentines Day to all the love birds out there 💕 These are two juvenile Western Bluebirds in the Cowichan Valley, part of a restoration program working to re-establish the population of these beautiful birds back to what it once was in the ar
An American Ibis snacking on some sand fleas. I loved seeing these birds everywhere in Florida last year, along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, in the Everglades, and even beside road sides. #floridabirds #wildlifephotography #ibis #gulfofmexico #

Featured Work

A male wood duck standing on a log in a pond, surrounded by green water and foliage.

Wildlife Gallery →

Two western bluebirds with brown and blue feathers perched on a weathered wooden post with a blurry green background.

Conservation Galleries →

A young child with curly blonde hair sitting outdoors on grass, holding a yellow plush toy, with a scenic view of water and trees in the background.

Adventure & Family Galleries →