About the Photographers

All of our featured photographers are members of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), a consortium of world renowned photographers dedicated to the preservation of nature. Their photos of America’s incredible wildlife are at the center of the Irreplaceable campaign. Meet some of the photographers below.

  • Art Wolfe

    Art Wolfe’s photographs are recognized throughout the world for their mastery of color, composition, and perspective. Over the course of his twenty-five year career, he has worked on every continent and in hundreds of locations. In April 2000 Wolfe was awarded a coveted Alfred Eisenstaedt Magazine Photography Award. In 1998, he was named Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year by the North American Nature Photography Association and in 1996 Photographer of the Year by Photo Media magazine.

  • Frans Lanting

    Frans Lanting has been hailed as one of the great nature photographers of our time. His influential work appears in books, magazines, and exhibitions around the world. Lanting’s work has been commissioned frequently by National Geographic, where he served as a Photographer-in-Residence. Lanting has received numerous prestigious awards for his work, including the Lennart Nilsson Award in 2005. In 2001 H.R.H. Prince Bernhard inducted him as a Knight in the Royal Order of the Golden Ark, the Netherlands’ highest conservation honor. He has been honored as a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in London.

  • Galen Rowell

    Raised in Berkeley, California, by a college professor and a concert cellist, Galen Rowell was introduced to wilderness before he could walk. In 1984 he received the Ansel Adams Award for his contributions to the art of wilderness photography. Rowell was also the recipient of a National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Grant to photograph Antarctica. In 1983 Rowell and his wife Barbara started a highly successful Bay Area photography business, Mountain Light, now located in Bishop, California. The Rowells died tragically in an airplane accident in 2002, but Galen Rowell's rich legacy in the world of photography continues to be an inspiration to all.

  • Michele Westmorland

    Michele Westmorland is well known for capturing travel and cultural images from around the world. Her photographs have been published in many recognized national and international publications such as National Geographic Traveler and Adventure magazines. Westmorland was recently inspired by a two month long expedition to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to document the people as they live today and to portray the changes that have occurred due to western influence. The project, called Headhunt Revisited, Charting Cultural Change in Melanesia, aims to illustrate the transformation in Melanesia over the last 75 years.

  • Kevin Schafer

    For over twenty years Kevin Schafer has worked on location all over the world, documenting wildlife and wild places. His work has appeared in science magazines worldwide, including the Smithsonian, Natural History, National Geographic and BBC Wildlife. He is the author of several books, including Penguin Planet, which received the 2000 National Outdoor Book Award. Kevin spent two years documenting threatened eco-regions around the world and has worked closely with conservation NGOs on three continents. Kevin was named the 2007 Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year by the North American Nature Photographers Association and his book, Living Light, received a 2007 Independent Publisher medal.

  • Paul Nicklen Paul Nicklen was born in a small Inuit community on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. He was exposed to Arctic wildlife from an early age and found much inspiration in his surroundings. After graduating college, Nicklen worked as a wildlife biologist on a variety of species including lynx, grizzly bears, bison, caribou and polar bears. His work encouraged him to take a three month solo expedition into the high arctic. His trip confirmed his desire to become a fulltime nature photojournalist. Nicklen has been featured in hundreds of publications including National Geographic. His environment continues to motivate and inspire his work.

  • Joel Sartore A passionate conservationist, Joel Sartore started his photographic career at The Wichita Eagle and by the early nineties was recruited by National Geographic. Sartore has covered a variety of issues to help raise awareness for conservation issues, ranging from land use and endangered species, to wildlife management and the demise of the American prairie. Sartore’s work has appeared in Audubon, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Time and numerous book projects including the Day in the Life series. Sartore is currently photographing zoo specimens to illustrate the demise of amphibians worldwide. His enthusiasm and support for conservation issues is an inspiration to many.

  • Brian Skerry Brian Skerry is well known for his underwater photography and his efforts to raise awareness about threats to the underwater environment. His works are featured frequently in National Geographic. He has shed light on the natural history of a large variety of marine species and ecosystems. He tackles challenging issues like commercial fishing, coral degradation, global warming and shark finning and portrays them with emotion and drama. His work has been printed in a mosaic of magazines like People, Sports Illustrated, US News and World Report, Smithsonian, as well as in countless other publications around the world.

We would also like to thank the following photographers for contributing their photographs to the exhibit. Please support them by visiting their websites.

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