For years I resisted going to India. When I was shooting for my book The Living Wild, I realized that tigers were a critical animal I needed to photograph. In March 1999 I went to Ranthambhore National Park and since then I have been back to India more times than I can count. It has become one of my favorite countries to photograph in—the colors, festivals, wildlife, and ancient traditions are astounding and enchanting.
To track tigers you venture out on elephant-back with a mahout. Photographing from an elephant is difficult at best but a necessary challenge. The forest is alive with birdsong and then suddenly you hear it: the spirited, scolding call of the hanuman langur, meaning a tiger or even a leopard is near. These ever-alert primates are the eyes and ears of guides and researchers alike.
Single episodes of the award-winning public television show Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge are now available for download on The Luminous Landscape. Unlike the DVDs, these downloadable episodes are in HD so you can pick and choose your favorite shows and locations. Head over to Luminous Landscape to purchase and download the first two seasons.
I rarely do assignments, but recently I traveled to California to do a shoot for the award-winning winery Sequoia Grove. It is a wonderful winery in Napa which has a partnership with the Sequoia Parks Foundation to protect habitat for the magnificent trees.
Following the commercial shoot in Napa, Jay Goodrich & I headed to the ghost town of Bodie, a State Historic Park north of Yosemite National Park. An old gold-mining town that was abandoned by its last residents over 50 years ago, it offers terrific photographic opportunities of “arrested decay.”
The open road of the Eastern Sierra beckoned after a quick stop in Yosemite, and we caught Owens Lake at sunset. Most of the water from the Owens River has long since been diverted to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, but some flow has now been restored to the lake. At dusk when the shallow, alkaline waters are still, the reflections of landforms and the endless high plains sky are superlative.
Back in the Bay Area we rented a small plane and flew over the San Francisco Bay. Over 90% of the Bay’s marshlands have been lost, but now some areas are slowly being restored for wildlife habitat. From the sky, the marshes offer amazing array of abstract geometric patterns and colors.
Our January class filled up so quickly, we are now adding a second Seattle workshop in March! This would make an ideal holiday gift for the photographer in your life!
Art was just in Patzcuaro, Mexico, photographing the Day of the Dead festival. During this holiday families gather for prayer and remembrance of departed family members. They clean and decorate cemeteries and churches, and celebrate life. Here is what Art had to say about the experience-
“Most Americans don’t deal with death in a straight forward manner. As a culture we tend to make it a subject of much avoidance. When I was asked to shoot the Dia de los Muertos in southwestern Mexico earlier this month, I approached it with great interest and naivete. As I photographed in the days leading up to the holiday, I began to understand just how important it is, even more so than Christmas. I was deeply moved by the way the community prepared for the Day of the Dead, vigorously cleaning churchyards and decorating cemeteries in colorful blankets of flowers, glowing candles, and overflowing baskets of food. The holiday is not sad, but rather a celebration of life and love and family. What I initially thought would be somber was, in fact, hugely uplifting and illuminating, both spiritually and photographically.”
I have been working with Outdoor Photographer since its inception in 1985 and to this day it remains the finest publication of its kind, inspiring enthusiasts and pros alike to make better images.
KING’s Emmy-award winning program continues its 20 plus-year tradition of focusing on the remarkable people, places and events that populate the Northwest.
Art Wolfe was presented with the Progress Medal Award at the Photographic Society of America (PSA) International Conference Honors Banquet in Charleston, SC. The Progress Medal, the Photographic Society of America’s highest honor, is awarded in recognition of a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the progress of photography or an allied subject.
The Photographic Society of America is honored to recognize Art Wolfe with the Progress Medal for his outstanding contribution to photography and the environment.
