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/

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Want to make a difference with your photography?

If you are one of those people who wants to make a difference in the world with your photography, you might want to check out the activities of a friend of ours, Joe Riis.

We met Joe a few years ago when he was still a student at the University of Wyoming and he was selected as one of 10 scholarship students to attend a North American Nature Photography Summit. Since then Joe has been verrry busy. With a network of people and organizations, Joe developed a media campaign to raise awareness of the conservation needs of the Missouri River ecosystem. The conservation photography project titled "Missouri River EXPOSED" focused on the Missouri River as well as the three federally listed endangered species that depend on the river.

This quote from Joe will give you a good feel for what motivates him in his work:

"I feel the duty to protect the places I love, for my future generations, for the entire planet; through the lens of a camera I believe I can accomplish this feat. Photography can be used to change societal thought and action by combining captivating images along with credible science. I want to use my knowledge in Wildlife Biology and Environment & Natural Resources and combine it with my passion for nature photography.

With my photography, I believe I can link the public to credible science with photographs through popular publications, exhibitions, and presentations. I believe that I can change the ideas and actions of everyone from the general public, to religious leaders, to our policy makers with my images. In the end, if I can help protect the natural environment and its processes through my photography, I will essentially be protecting the health and future of the human species."

For more details on the project (and on Joe), check out his website at www.joeriis.com

In his current project, "Pronghorn Passage", Joe partners with writer Emeline Ostlind to bring attention to the growing threats to the critical migration corridor for the pronghorn herds which migrate 170 miles from Grand Teton National Park to the Red Desert in Wyoming.
The website for this project is worth a visit and take some time to check out their blog as well as audio and video pieces. http://www.pronghornpassage.com/

If you don't come away from visiting Joe's sites with renewed inspiration for the power of your own photography, then you're not paying attention!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Voices Behind the Camera - ILCP Photographer Cristina Mittermeier

Please meet a fearless woman, wonderful photographer and a true friend of the earth and all of it's peoples :

CRISTINA GOETTSCH MITTERMEIER
The relationship between nature and humans is where Cristina Mittermeier’s photography finds its true mission. The idea that people and nature are not isolated from each other, but are inexorably connected, lies at the heart of her work. This relationship is particularly poignant when it comes to indigenous people and this where Cristina’s images truly shine.
Her work has taken her to 54 countries, including some of the most remote and beautiful areas of our planet.

As a photographer since 1996, Cristina has help produce 8 books, including a series published with Conservation International and Cemex. Megadiversity: Earth's Wealthiest Countries for Biodiversity (1996), Hotspots: Earth's biologically richest and most endangered ecoregions (1998), Wilderness Areas: Earth's Last Wild Places (2002), Wildlife Spectacles (2003), Hotspots Revisited (2005), and Transboundary Conservation: A New Vision for Protected Areas (2005), and Pantanal: South America’s Wetland Jewel (2005) are all part of that series.

Her latest book project, The Human Footprint, was produced with the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York in conjunction with her own organization, the ILCP. Cristina serves as Executive Director of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), a prestigious group of photographers which she founded in 2005.

From the popular to the scientific, her work has appeared in major magazines around the world including Nature's Best, Latina, Elan, National Geographic, National Geographic Explorer and American Photo in the United States, Rumbos, Escala and Sale la Foto, in Mexico, Explorador and Terra in Brazil, Man and Biosphere in China, among others.Cristina serves in the Advisory Board of Nature's Best Foundation and is a Board Member of the WILD Foundation.
Visit Cristina's Website


Cristina's images may be purchased at
Digital Railroad or Fine Print Imaging

Listen now to the voice behind the camera of Cristina Mittermeier: