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James Balog (pronounced ''BAY-log''; born July 15, 1952) is an American photographer whose work explores the relationship between humans and nature. Since the early 1980s Balog has photographed such subjects endangered animals, North America’s old-growth forests, and polar ice. His work aims to combine insights from art and science to produce innovative, dynamic and sometimes shocking interpretations of our changing world. Balog’s best-known project explores the impact of climate change on the world’s glaciers. In 2007 he initiated the Extreme Ice Survey, the most wide-ranging ground-based photographic glacier study ever conducted. ''National Geographic'' magazine showcased Balog's ice work in June 2007 and June 2010, and the project is featured in the 2009 NOVA documentary ''Extreme Ice''〔See ''(Extreme Ice )''.〕 as well as the 75-minute film ''Chasing Ice'', which premiered in January 2012. Balog’s book ''Ice: Portraits of the World’s Vanishing Glaciers'' summarizes the work of the Extreme Ice Survey through 2012. Balog has received many awards for his work, including a 2010 Heinz Award, the Aspen Institute's Visual Arts & Design Award, the Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure, the Leica Medal of Excellence, and the International League of Conservation Photographers League Award. He was the North American Nature Photography Association's Outstanding Photographer of the Year in 2008 and ''PhotoMedia''’s Person of the Year for 2011. In 1996 he became the first photographer ever commissioned by the U.S. Postal Service to create a full set of stamps. He is the author of seven books, including ''Extreme Ice Now: Vanishing Glaciers and Changing Climate: A Progress Report'' (2009), ''Tree: A New Vision of the American Forest'' (2004), and ''Survivors: A New Vision of Endangered Wildlife'' (1990), hailed as a conceptual breakthrough in nature photography. Balog is a founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a Sustainability Ambassador for The North Face. He lives in the foothills of the Rockies above Boulder, Colorado, with his wife, Suzanne, and daughters Simone and Emily. == Background == Balog was born in Danville, Pennsylvania. His interest in nature and fascination with wild places originated in his early childhood in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. While working on his undergraduate degree in communications at Boston College, he became an avid adventurer. He made frequent trips to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the wilderness rivers of Maine, and later larger climbing expeditions in the Alps and Himalayas, along with first ascents in Alaska. As his outdoor adventures evolved, Balog increasingly felt a need to document his experiences. He began carrying a camera on his trips and teaching himself photography. While working on a master's degree in geomorphology at the University of Colorado, he honed his photography skills during frequent climbing trips. In order to pursue a more direct connection with the natural world, he decided to switch from science to nature photojournalism. He began with a series of documentary photography assignments for magazines such as ''Mariah'' (the predecessor to ''Outside''), ''Smithsonian'' and ''National Geographic'', work he continues today. Later, he moved into self-directed projects, many of which would ultimately lead to large-format photography books. Balog’s work has appeared in ''National Geographic, The New Yorker, Life, Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, Audubon, Outside'' and numerous trade publications such as ''American Photo, Professional Photographer'' and ''Photo District News''. He was a contributing editor to ''National Geographic Adventure''. Assignments and personal projects have included documenting the aftermath of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, the 2004 tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia, Hurricane Katrina’s collision with the U.S. Gulf Coast, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil disaster. A major enterprise of Balog’s in recent years has been the Extreme Ice Survey. Since 2007, this has used time-lapse photography, conventional photography and video to illustrate the effects of global warming on the earth’s glacial ice. Working with a team of scientists, videographers and extreme-weather expedition professionals, Balog and the EIS team installed as many as 43 time-lapse camera systems at a time at 18 glaciers in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Canada, the Nepalese Himalaya by Mount Everest, and the Rocky Mountains of the U.S. The cameras shoot year round, every half hour of daylight. The Extreme Ice Survey team then assembles the images into video animations that demonstrate the dramatic retreat of the glaciers. Collected images are used for scientific evidence and as part of a global outreach campaign aimed at educating the public about the effects of global warming. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Balog」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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