Busy week both here in Art Wolfe land and the world! Sports are returning in limited fashion, political fallout, and conflicts of ideology that are having harmful results (wear a mask! Please – I have many more book projects to complete!). I absolutely enjoyed chatting with Michelle Valberg last night on Earth Is Our Witness. If you enjoyed Michelle’s work, don’t forget to pop over to the Earth Is Our Witness Instagram page and give a photo you like a comment – a lucky winner will receive a free print!
Last night on Tequila Time, I had a bit of fun with a look at some of the antics of my youth, but I also ended on a poignant note. As many of you are aware, the flora, fauna, and livelihood of local fishermen is under immense threat by the proposed Pebble Mine project in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska If the Pebble Mine goes through, the bears will lose, the fish will lose, Alaskans will lose, and Earth will lose. It’s short term gain for the few and long-term destruction for the many.
A little over a year ago now I sent out a call to action to contact your congresspersons and let them know your thoughts on this project, that only serves to propagate wealth for the few while ravaging this beautiful and globally unique environment that we and future generations will lose out on.
With the recent Army Corps of Engineer’s Environmental Impact Study being labelled as inherently flawed and wholly inadequate by respected organizations such as the NRDC and the obvious interests of the Save Bristol Bay campaign, it’s time to make voices heard. No project ever goes flawlessly. We know this as humans. I do my best to see both sides of a conflict, but when it comes to matters of the environment versus the personal gain of a few individuals whom already possess the means to undertake such an environmentally devastating project, my decision is very simple.
We will continue to fight the good fight! Have a fantastic weekend!
Hard to believe it, but we’ve been doing a weekly live broadcast every Thursday night for four months now. If you’ve been missing out and can make it work with your time zone, make sure you follow me on Facebook and Instagram so you don’t miss out on tomorrow’s live broadcast! I need your help though – in the form of more questions! Leave a comment below with anything you might want to know about photography, my career, or something completely random – have fun with it!
We’ve also added Earth Is Our Witnessto the mix, which is a fantastic way to get to know some of the world’s greatest photographers some of which you’ve likely heard of, and others you should know! The premise of EIOW is to emphasize the ways that we are, by and large, similar around the world, with the same goals, dreams, and wishes for our friends, our families, and ourselves.
This week on EIOW, we will be talking with Canadian Geographic photographer-in-residence & Nikon Ambassador Michelle Valberg on her work in the Arctic and the inspiring stories behind the lives of the Inuit people who reside there.
Tequila Time kicks off at 5:30 PM PST every Thursday on Facebook Live & Instagram.
Earth is Our Witness begins at 7 PM PST on Thursday on Facebook Live & Youtube.
The House has passed the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild Scenic Rivers Act! Now it moves on to more. . .challenging opposition. I won’t get political – you know where I stand on matters of environment. I truly believe there is a balance we can achieve, but only by working together! The Olympic Peninsula in particular is a special place for me and one of the reasons that despite a life of world travel, I make my home in Seattle. I can’t think of too many places where you can turn yourself in a circle and see snow-capped mountains and a beautiful beach sunset, all while taking in the sounds of the abundant wildlife and earthy smells of the ancient old growth forest.
Following the weekly Tequila Timelive stream, Parimal and myself conducted our Earth Is Our Witness discussion. Joined this time by celebrity photographer Matthew Jordan Smith, we discussed behind the scenes celebrity antics but more importantly continued with our theme that we as humans share more commonalities than differences. It was also eye-opening to hear Matthew’s first-hand experiences being a black photographer here in the United States versus how he is acknowledged abroad.
Pathways to Creativity episode 8 was also released this week. initially a video glitch seemed to affect several seconds of footage – but that has been resolved by powers much more tech savvy than myself!
Learning to master depth of field is no small task and it’s a skill I’ve honed over decades of shooting all manner of subjects. Knowing when to capture the entirety of your scene in sharp focus, or when to selectively and intentionally bring focus to one area of the shot to capture the viewers eye is an important decision to make once you’ve determined your subject. For those of you who have purchased Pathways to Creativity, a new episode is available on the subject – join me for a deep dive!
First and foremost is the live broadcast in which Parimal and myself spoke with Jasmine Carey about her work as an ocean and underwater photographer. I won’t spoil too much – watch the video! You won’t be disappointed by this interview and her gorgeous photos. Jasmine was the Grand Prize winner of this year’s prestigious HIPA Award for their theme of “Water”. You’ll understand why!
If you missed any previous installments of Earth Is Our Witness and don’t want to miss a future episode in which we might be chatting with one of your personal favorite photographers, give Earth is Our Witness a follow on Facebook!
Check out Jasmine’s website as well. Her online store includes a gift box of miniature prints, with a large portion of the proceeds benefiting Rainforest Rescue. Add two to your cart and use the code WITNESS and get one of them for free!
Preceding our chat with Jasmine it was Tequila Time! This week I took a break from showing photos to bring my long-time friend and travel companion Gavriel Jecan on with me. He’s missing his family back in Thailand, as he’s been stuck here in the states. Time to grill the man who makes the margaritas behind the scenes!
First and foremost, there’s a fresh new episode of Pathways to Creativity uploaded, so if you’ve purchased the season, check it out! This one is all about shutter speeds. Freezing miniscule droplets of water in sharp focus while a tiny bird drinks from a puddle gives us a glimpse into a world we never see with the naked eye, while the blurred motion and lines of a group of zebras through tall grass provides more context than a focused image is capable of conveying. It’s all there!
There is also a gorgeous gift edition of Trees: Between Earth & Heaven available, published as of today! As you saw on a recent episode of Tequila Time, the first edition of Trees is one of my Top 10 personal favorites, and this new gift edition retains the quality of that release in a more compact format.
Last but most definitely not least, if you haven’t already give Earth Is Our Witness a follow on both Facebook and Instagram and be sure to join us live on Thursday evenings following soon after Tequila Time. This week Parimal and myself will be talking with ocean photographer & the prestigious HIPA grand-prize winner Jasmine Carey on the secret lives of whales. I can’t wait! Thank you SO MUCH for everyone who joins our live broadcasts, and those who go back and watch them later. The positive feedback has been tremendous. See you then!
In case you missed it, Parimal Deshpande and myself had another fantastic couple of live streams last night – check them out:
If you haven’t followed Earth is Our Witness yet on Facebook and Instagram, we’ve got a fantastic lineup of photographers from a wide range of backgrounds to talk to. Last evening we spoke with Mark Edward Harris, travel photographer with riveting stories from North Korea and Japan. He has a unique perspective from his time spent in these locations, don’t miss it!
Early in the evening I discussed my upcoming book project, Act of Faith with the Tequila Time audience. You can find that video on both Instagram and Facebook. Enjoy, and I’ll see you next week!
It’s Thursday – That means it’s Tequila Time as well as a new episode of Earth Is Our Witness! If you haven’t joined the fun, things kick off here in a half an hour or so, and because I know folks would love to see higher resolution of the photos I’ll be discussing, here is a slide show in advance of the Tequila flowing!
Tonight on Tequila Time (5:30 PST On Facebook Live & Instagram) I’ll be answering your questions as usually and then presenting a selection of photos from a current book-in-progress called “Act of Faith” – a look at religions and spirituality world wide! If you have any suggestions of obscure faiths that could be interesting to add to my list, drop a commend below!
Earth is Our Witness will feature travel photographer Mark Edward Harris, with stories of North Korea and the Way of the Japanese Bath. It will kick off on the Earth is Our Witness Facebook Live at 7 PM – Give EIOW a follow on both Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date. See you shortly!
This week’s episode is titled, “The Big Picture”. It’s all about large landscapes, large formats, and large ideas. I discuss how I ensure that the elements of design we’ve discussed until now don’t get lost in the vastness of an open landscape, or wide panoramic shot.
Enjoy – we are at the half way point of Season 1! Hopefully everyone who has purchased Pathways thus far has found the first 6 hours useful. Don’t forget to leave a comment below, on my on demand page, or contact my staff if you have any feedback on your experience with Pathways, and how to make Season 2 even better!
I was back LIVE last night with Parimal Deshpande for Tequila Time last night discussing my first travel in months. We discuss photographing American Crocodiles up close and personal, complete with photos and video – check it out if you missed the live broadcast!
I during the broadcast I also mention the excellent support I had on this trip from our contacts on the ground and I wanted to highlight them here. Javier Salas and his company XTC Dive Center. They were incredibly supportive to me as well as my staff back home. I can’t recommend them enough.
You know, there simply aren’t very many places to swim with crocs – imagine that! If you’re going to do so, these are the experts to do it with!
Tequila Time was a great appetizer, but the main course for the evening (not me for the crocs, fortunately!) was sitting down once again with Parimal to talk to Phil Borges on Earth Is Our Witness – a fantastic new interview series with photographers around the world, with an emphasis on mindfulness and our place as fellow humans living on the same planet.
To that end, Phil Borges has long been a photographer for change, documenting the struggles and perseverance of cultures around the world. It was a fantastic interview – watch it here – and make sure you follow Earth Is Our Witness on Facebook to catch future interviews live, and visit the EIOW Instagram page for beautiful galleries of our featured photographers!
It’s Tuesday – that means a new episode of 
