Samuel John is the co-founder of Spiders and the Sea, a social enterprise working towards bridging people and nature through outreach and creative storytelling. He is interested in the natural history of spiders and curious about the relationships humans have shared with spiders through time. When he's not photographing spiders or writing about them, he can be seen playing the blues for them.
More than half the world's human population – well over four billion people – live in urbanised areas. As we hurtle towards a world of cities, it becomes crucial to examine what it means for a human to grow up and live in cities.
Growing up in a bustling city like Bangalore, I experienced the culture of the global city, one in which you are aware of people, buildings, motor vehicles and aspirations of monetary wealth but oblivious to the natural world. If I did notice nature, I would only see resources for the taking. Life in a city drained me mentally and emotionally. It wasn't until I started a small terrace garden that I began to heal. I created an inclusive space at home for plants, insects, spiders, birds, and anything that needed a safe space in a city. I soon realised all those non-human residents and visitors were creating a safe and inclusive space for me. Many shapes of nature cohabited the terrace garden, each a thread in an interdependent tapestry of regeneration. People need nature in their daily lives. If most people on earth grow up and live in cities, then cities and their culture need nature.
