James Balog

James Balog: Founder and Director, The Extreme Ice Survey James Balog ‘s Extreme Ice Survey is a monumental and stunning look at the impact abrupt climate change is having on the world’s glaciers. For nearly 30 years, Balog has broken new ground in the art of photographing nature. His work grows out of a lifelong passion for nature as an artist, scientist, explorer and adventurer. The June, 2007 cover story for National Geographic showcased Balog’s work on melting glaciers. Balog is the author of Extreme Ice Now: Vanishing Glaciers and Changing Climate: A Progress Report, just released by National Geographic Books. He is also the author of six other books, including Tree: A New Vision of the American Forest and Survivors: A New Vision of Endangered Wildlife, which were hailed as major breakthroughs in nature photography. Balog’s images are regularly published in the world’s major magazines and he is a contributing editor to National Geographic Adventure. He is the first photographer ever commissioned to create a series of stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. Awarded the Leica Medal of Excellence and the premier awards for both nature and science photography at World Press Photo in Amsterdam, Balog’s photos have been exhibited at more than a hundred museums and galleries from Paris to Los Angeles. The documentary film, “A Redwood Grows in Brooklyn,” explores his thoughts about art, nature and perception. James lives on a Rocky Mountain ridge top high above Boulder, Colorado with his wife Suzanne, and daughters Simone and Emily. “Each new series by James Balog represents a quantum leap in creativity, which takes us deeper into the ultimate mystery of humanity’s relationship to the natural world. He is a visionary and his works are like sacred objects.” --James Nachtwey, TIME magazine photographer