Thursday, September 25, 2008

Voices Behind the Camera - ILCP Photographer Florian Schulz

This week's Voice Behind the Camera is Florian Shulz

Born in Germany, Florian Schulz (32) is a professional nature and wildlife photographer with a vision of broad horizons. Through skillfull and artistic photography, he is in the constant search for breathtaking images that inspire individuals to take action in the protection of large endangered ecosystems.

Schulz has dedicated years of his life to documenting the drama and beauty of North America’s most critical wildlife corridor: “Yellowstone to Yukon”. Sponsored by the Blue Earth Alliance, his first book —Yellowstone to Yukon: Freedom to Roam (2005) received an Independent Book Publisher Award as one of the “Outstanding Books of the Year” singled out as “Most Likely to Save the Planet.”

Images carefully selected from his book, produced a traveling exhibit by the Burke Museum in Seattle. Schulz’s photography has also been displayed in important museums like the American Museum of Natural History, and in 2009 The Field Museum (Chicago) will be hosting Y2Y-Freedom to Roam. Exploring the concept of wildlife corridors and the need for ecosystem connectivity, Yellowstone to Yukon-Freedom to Roam is a beautiful and unique tribute to the North American wild.

As the youngest founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), Florian uses his photography to instill in viewers a greater interest in both the natural and cultural diversity of the planet.

Together with four international renown photographers, Schulz took part in “El Triunfo” RAVE (Rapid Visual Assessment Expedition in Chiapas, Mex) organized to document in depth, a very rich and severely threatened ecosystem in the Clouded Forest of Sierra de Chiapas. The images were used in the media to strongly promote this Biosphere Reserve and were fundamental elements to help raise funds in order to ensure it’s protection.

Twice, the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) has awarded Schulz for his dedicated work on conservation. In 2006 he received the Philip Hyde Environmental Grant and in 2008 he was announced as the first recipient of the 2008 NANPA Vision Award.


Recognized as an outstanding speaker, Schulz has devoted months to promote the idea of creating wildlife corridors. Since the publication of Yellowstone to Yukon, Florian has been featured internationally as a speaker in many prestigious venues from universities, book and film festivals to National Geographic and Microsoft.

Florian’s work has been published by internationally recognized magazines including Nature’s Best, Outdoor Photographer, The Nature Conservancy, The New York Times, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Natur & Kosmos, Airone and TERRA. His photographs have won awards in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, the Nature’s Best International Photography Awards, the Banff International Mountain Photography Competition and the European Nature Photographer of the Year competition.

As part of his continuous conservation work, Florian has committed to a second photography conservation project, which will be part of the series “Freedom to Roam”. It will follow the same line as the past project: connecting wildlife corridors for sustainable wilderness. The new project, under the title “The Wild Edge, from Baja to Beaufort” will lead Florian from the warm waters of Mexico all the way up to Alaska, along the Pacific Northwest coast line.

“… The vision of Y2Y is a gift that future generations will be able to cherish forever. Through my work, I hope to fuel the new conservation movement of connectivity and perhaps, sharing my photography will move people’s heart to get involved in saving North America’s greatest treasure.” -FS

Now, let's listen to the voice behind the camera of Florian Schulz ...

To find out more about Florian visit his website http://www.visionsofthewild.com/

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