James Balog Wins Rowell Award
February 2008Author, adventurer, and nature photographer James Balog has been selected as the recipient of the 2007 Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure by the Rowell Award Judging Panel.
The award will be presented on April 16 in San Francisco. The event is sponsored by the Rowell Legacy Committee and its partners, the Yosemite Fund and the Commonwealth Club of California. For more on the event, please see 2008 Rowell Awards
The Rowell Award celebrates the accomplishments of famed adventurers and photographers Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a plane crash in 2002. The award honors an adventurer whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places of the world, and whose accomplishments significantly benefit both the environment and the people who inhabit these lands and regions.
James Balog’s images have reflected a lifelong involvement with the outdoors and his quest to understand the complex relationship between humans and the environment. His work grows out of a passion for the environment as an artist, scientist, explorer, and adventurer. He is the author of six 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 work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Outside, Vanity Fair, and Life. His latest project, the Extreme Ice Survey, involves Balog and his team installing 26 time-lapse cameras on 16 glaciers in five countries that will produce over 300,000 images to document glacial melt over the next two years.
The $15,000 cash award was established by The Rowell Legacy Committee, which is composed of family members, friends, business associates, and admirers of the late Barbara and Galen Rowell. Previous recipients include Jimmy Chin and Beth Wald.
Balog is a longtime climber, based in Colorado, who has done new routes in Colorado and the Stikine Icecap in Alaska. See more of his work at Jamesbalog.com.