tagged w/ Ian Shive
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Ian Shive, author of The National Parks: Our American Landscape, recently caught up with us to discuss what goes into being a photographer of wild places. He brought up some interesting points about the difference between nature photography and conservation photography (nature photos are just fun to take - conservation photos make a difference!).
What is rather thrilling, is that Ian just offered to share his knowledge and perspective, and to review photos from normal people like you and I and give us some perspective.
If you want to participate~ leave your photos at the link by November 1st: What kind of photos do you have - can you make a difference?
Want to know more about Ian Shive? Check out this amazing videos:
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The Fun Theory: Change them with laughter not with facts? Ian Shive, author of The National Parks: Our American Landscape, recently caught up... more
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leahl
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3 years ago
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In case you missed Wild Exposure with Ian Shive, a documentary of his experiences photographing the National Parks for "Photos Across America" on Current, All is not lost. Current Green caught up with Ian between signings (Literally. I think he was driving).
Current Green: How did you get into photography?
Ian Shive: It started as an attempt to share new experiences and places with friends and family when I first moved to Montana for college after growing up in New Jersey. Montana was so radically different that I had to find ways to send photos back home to "prove" to friends what I was seeing out west. Most of my friends back then had not seen the American West and once you see it - it never leaves you. I remember one experience in particular where I had photographed a scene in the Crazy Mountains of Montana and when I got the film back - the photos were so disappointing. I had failed to accurately capture what I was hoping for and so began an inadvertent journey of teaching myself photography. Still, photography wasn't an obvious career choice for me, despite the fact that my father is a photographer specializing in architecture. I simply saw it as a means of sharing and that continues to this day.
Current Green: What came first? Love of wilderness or love of photography?
Ian Shive: My first experience of wilderness outdoors was in New Jersey, and so that’s pretty much where I spent all of my time. Most people don't think of New Jersey as a place with great outdoors but it is and was amazing. We had wildlife refuges and parks that for a 5-year old up until my teen years, were more than enough to spark my interests. When I was 14 years-old, my parents took me on my first trip to a major National Park - the Grand Canyon. That trip left an indelible mark and opened my eyes to the immensity of the west and especially the magic of the national parks. When I returned to Montana for college, I was never in class because Bozeman was so close to Yellowstone National Park (only 90 miles north), so photography and the parks and the love of wilderness all started in earnest. About six years later, I was completely obsessed and engrossed in the outdoors and photography.
Current Green: You have said that there is a difference between nature photography and conservation photography. Can you explain the difference?
Ian Shive: Nature photography and conservation photography frequently appear the same. It could be a bird in the backyard feeder, a beautiful landscape of a national park or a great wildlife shot. The place where the two diverge is that nature photography takes no action - the image is for yourself or for a magazine. Conservation photography takes the process a step further by taking that same image and using it for advocacy, education and to bring awareness or aid to the subject or ecosystem depicted in the image. It's sort of like giving back to the landscape that you've borrowed from as a photographer.
Current Green: How do you hope your work will influence the conservation of National Parks?
Ian Shive: "The National Parks: Our American Landscapes” was four years in the making. Climate change is having an incredible impact in the National Parks. Pretty much if you know what to look for: for instance the pine beetle attacks on pine trees is much worse than ever before because of the longer, warmer season and less cold winters. There are also air quality issues: 200 days were declared unfit for breathing in the Smokey Mountain National Park.
Conservation is a lifestyle. Lets not have these isolated islands: they are the only places in our country that are pristine; that are conserved without borders. The market place of the environment is filled with fear tactics: stories about wolves and polar bears in danger. While this is true - I don’t believe that tactic is inspiring people: I want to show people how amazing these places are, and tell them the story of why these places are so beautiful in the first place so they will want to step in and help out.
Current Green: What is one project you feel was very successful at accomplishing your larger goals of conservation photography?
Ian Shive: I worked on the border fence issue and it's impact on the environment along the entire US/Mexico border. Myself and a team of other photographers and filmmakers drove the entire length of the border from California to the southernmost tip of Texas. This was an initiative started by a great Washington D.C. -based group called the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP). Afterwards, we took the photos of the area to congress as part of a much larger effort to halt construction of the fence - which bypassed over 30 laws, many environmental - and educate people about the ecosystems and migration corridors along the border. It was also a goal to help show support for new legislation that would benefit this cause. A lot of people think of the border as a wasteland, but the truth is we saw herds of migrating Sonoran pronghorn, jaguars, bears, dear, birds, in a place where most people thought is a lost cause Any effort is part of a cumulative effort, I’m not hell bent about it being all about me which is why groups like ILCP work so well. It felt successful because we did something that not has done before, documented an area most people know nothing about. I see myself as an educator, helping people make informed decisions.
Current Green: What is it like being in the field all the time; what is the cost to life?
Ian Shive: What life? [Laughing] This is what I do. I’ve made friends all over the world, so I have friends everywhere. I get to meet a lot of cool people who are doing amazing things with their lives. That has been one of the coolest experiences. Its an unusual life, no doubt about it.
Current Green: Most unexpected moment?
Ian Shive: FLASH FLOODS in the Desert! There are more really awesome moments. There were places that I thought was going to be a bore, like Big Bend. I spent 10 days there on assignment, and that place unraveled before me. It took time, it took getting off the trail, and then I understood why it was a National Park. It is it was the equivalent of Glacier National Park.
Current Green: Is it hard reintegrating into the day-to-day life after spending that much time in nature?
Ian Shive: I go through a reentry, especially if I am on the road 24 weeks. I was on Mt McKinley, and was embedded with a search and rescue crew, and it was a really intense experience. And then I got back home, and I don't know what to do with myself. Its a slower pace, and I try to get back in the rhythm with friends. It takes a few days, sometimes a week but it's always nice to be home but I look forward to going back out on the road, too.
Current Green: Can you name your favorite top 3 places?
Ian Shive: My favorite places have more to do with an emotional attachment or experience that I had there: Acadia National Park in autumn, the Everglades in Florida in August when it's hot and massive thunderstorms roll through or right here at home in California at the Channel Islands which are fun anytime of year and a quick escape from Los Angeles.
Current Green: Advice to budding young photographers?
Ian Shive: I made a very measured and calculated decision that was years in the making. I was saving money, establishing myself, getting constructive criticism, trying different things. Then I also developed a business plan. It’s just like the music industry: a lot of people with great voices trying to get seen. I don’t want to glamorize it because it isn’t to be romanticized: you have to have money for the next gig. I knew I could leave my job because I had too many gigs. You have to be prudent. I work hard, twenty hour days, its hard work, but its always rewarding, and that’s what people see the reward - swimming with dolphins, a great sunset, etc.
Want to stay in contact with Ian Shive? You can find him on Facebook on twittter at @IanShivePhoto. In case you missed Wild Exposure with Ian Shive, a documentary of his experiences... more
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leahl
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added this
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3 years ago
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Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to introduce different ideas about conservation in the US.
This is one of 4 videos that Ian is sharing with Current TV that documents his trip photographing national parks across the country, as he presents viewers with the good, the bad and the ugly of life as a nature photographer. This video focuses on Yellowstone Country.
Ian's environmental photography has appeared in Time Magazine, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, National Geographic, Outside Magazine and many other publications. His book, "The National Parks: Our American Landscapes" will be released on August 1, 2009.Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to... more
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Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to introduce different ideas about conservation in the US.
This is one of 4 videos that Ian is sharing with Current TV that documents his trip photographing national parks across the country, as he presents viewers with the good, the bad and the ugly of life as a nature photographer. This video focuses on the Northern Rocky Mountains.
Ian's environmental photography has appeared in Time Magazine, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, National Geographic, Outside Magazine and many other publications. His book, "The National Parks: Our American Landscapes" will be released on August 1, 2009Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to... more
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ctv
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added this
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3 years ago
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Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to introduce different ideas about conservation in the US.
This is one of 4 videos that Ian is sharing with Current TV that documents his trip photographing national parks across the country, as he presents viewers with the good, the bad and the ugly of life as a nature photographer. This video focuses on the Southwest.
Ian's environmental photography has appeared in Time Magazine, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, National Geographic, Outside Magazine and many other publications. His book, "The National Parks: Our American Landscapes" will be released on August 1, 2009Ian Shive left his cushy marketing job to pursue photography as a platform to... more
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ctv
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added this
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3 years ago
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