Erik Nissen Johansen
Erik Nissen Johansen is the founder and creative director of global award-winning hospitality design studio Stylt in Gothenburg, Sweden. For more than 25 years, Stylt has combined concept development, interior architecture, design, and branding to create unique hospitality experiences for clients all over the world, including more than 400 restaurants and 250 hotels: the Pater Noster Lighthouse and the Niehku Mountain Villa in Sweden, the ANDAZ by Hyatt in Dubai, the 25h hotels in Düsseldorf, Copenhagen and Melbourne, the Downtown Camper by Scandic in Stockholm, the Smoki Moto JW Marriott in Dubai, the LEGO House in Billund, the Huus hotel in Gstaad, the Lydmar in Stockholm, the Spedition hotel in Switzerland, the Klaus K hotel in Helsinki, the Well Spa in Oslo, Le Rouge in Stockholm, Le Pain Français in Gothenburg, Creekside Villa in Canmore Canada, and the Stenungsbaden Yacht Club in Gothenburg.
Under Erik’s leadership, Stylt has won several awards: Global UNESCO Prix Versailles for Best Hotel Interior (twice), National Geographic Traveller Big Sleep Awards (twice), several AHEAD awards, Best New Boutique Hotel in the World, IH&P Award for Worlds Best SPA design and many more.
3 words to describe Nature?
Calm. Enchanting. Enriching
3 things Nature taught you?
Be humble
Be respectful
Feel alive
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Solomon Sea
West Sweden Archipelago
The Norwegian Fjords
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Creative
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Rejuvenating
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Stunning
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Majestic
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Captivating
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
The first time I tried snorkel gear, I was 4, a new world opened up in the Oslo fjord.
Andrew Zuckerman
Andrew Zuckerman is a photographer, filmmaker, creative director, and curator. In 2019 he co-founded The Slowdown, a media company focused on culture, nature, and the future. Much of his work is concerned with the intersection of nature and technology. His immersive investigation of the natural world has produced multiple books and exhibitions collected in three volumes Creature(2007), Bird(2009), and Flower(2012). A year-long curatorial residency at Chamber Gallery NY, spanning four exhibitions of design and art that bring nature into the living environment, and an installation for the windows of Barneys NY commissioned by Dries Van Noten are invitations to the public to consider nature in new ways. Most recently, he worked with the California Academy of Sciences as their 2016 Osher Fellow creating a body of work about the Twilight Zone, a relatively unexplored depth of the oceans.
Andrew’s precise and determined images create unique correlation points between the viewer and the subject. His works, often at life scale, have been exhibited and acquired by public institutions and private collections. Andrew’s ongoing portrait practice utilizes both photography and filmed interview formats to examine human perspectives. With the support of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he released Wisdom in 2008 as a book, a feature-length documentary film, and a global traveling exhibition. Over 50 individuals from across disciplines participated in the project, including Nelson Mandela, Andrew Wyeth, Jane Goodall, and Madeline Albright. Following Wisdom, Zuckerman expanded this series to musicians including Iggy Pop, Ornette Coleman, Yoko Ono, and Herbie Hancock for the Music film and book. Andrew’s narrative film work includes directing High Falls, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded Best Short Film at the Woodstock Film Festival the same year as well as producing a feature documentary on the musician Bill Withers, Still Bill, which premiered at the 2009 SXSW film festival. Zuckerman’s books have been translated into numerous languages and published in 18 international editions.
Andrew has collaborated extensively for many brands as a photographer, filmmaker, interviewer, and creative director. Designed by Apple in California, a book released in 2016, was the result of a multiyear commission exploring 20 years of Apple design. From 2008-2017 Andrew served as Executive Creative Director of Creature Pictures, a boutique production company he founded, which worked on numerous media projects for Apple. In May 2019 Andrew co-founded The Slowdown, a multi-platform media company to explore culture, nature, and the future.
Andrew donates time and resources to a number of not-for-profits, having created media for One, the ACLU, Starving Artist, Red, and United Way. He currently serves on the board of the Children’s Museum of Arts in New York City. Andrew lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Living. Self. Interdependence.
3 things Nature taught you?
Humility
Rhythm
To slow down
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My body
The Hudson Valley
New York City
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Connected
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Cautious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reset
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Anxious
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Curious
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I have vivid memories of long walks through the grassy fields, under the buzzing power lines in suburban Maryland, wondering what it was like before the houses were built and the foreboding steel structures were needed to keep them on life support. I’ve always been interested in that intersection of industry and nature.
Dallas Taylor
After cutting his teeth as a sound designer/mixer for networks like NBC, Fox, G4, and Discovery, DALLAS TAYLOR launched Defacto Sound, where he’s led thousands of high-profile projects ranging from blockbuster game trailers and advertising campaigns to Sundance award-winning films. A respected thought leader on the narrative power of sound, Dallas is a sought-after speaker at conferences, a regular contributor to major industry publications, and creator of the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz.
3 words to describe Nature?
Calming. Symbiotic. Human
3 things Nature taught you?
We are nature disguised in fancy clothes and fancy devices.
Nature is the most preferred human sound.
Nature is a double edged sword. It can kill us, but also be the most soothing thing for our brain.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Kalalau Valley Lookout overlooking the Na Pali Coast
Any stop along the Road to Hana
Anywhere in the Rocky Mountains on a warm day
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Exploratory
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Terrified
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Time
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Sleepy :)
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like getting a recorder. Good, clean, howling wind is rare and hard to capture.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
A mountain overlooking an ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I used to take long walks and bike rides in the Delta of Arkansas growing up as a kid. I grew up on a lake that was formed by the Mississippi River, but later leveed off. I grew up right before the explosion of the internet, so my childhood was filled with 4+ hour walks/rides up and down the Mississippi River and my lake (Horseshoe Lake, AR). I think that helped me sort out the difficult times in my childhood and ultimately prepared me for adulthood.
Chris Burkard
Chris Burkard is an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Traveling throughout the year to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, Burkard works to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere.
Layered by outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Burkard is known for images that are punctuated by untamed, energized landscapes and peak moments of adventure. He has accumulated an audience of over one million followers to become a globally recognized social influencer.
Burkard is often central in synthesizing the creative projects he is involved in, across stakeholders. His holistic and visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on global, prominent campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, appear as a TED speaker, develop specialty product lines, teach national and international photography workshops and publish a collection of books, including a children’s book. Along with his team, Burkard is based out of his full-scale production studio and art gallery near his hometown in Central Coast California.
At the age of 30, Burkard has established himself as a global presence and influencer, accomplishing a prolific portfolio, connecting people from around the world and producing some of the most recognized creative work of our time.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Vast. Wild.
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Freedom
Joy
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Yosemite
Highlands of Iceland
Pacific Ocean
I owe a lot to each of these places.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Excited
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Disbelief. . . I cant even believe they are real. Did a trip flying around the volcanos in the Aleutian Chain. Still think I'm coming down from that experience..
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Excited, most of my favorite moments of my life have occured in that 30 minute window before and after sunset!
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed. Time for a good book.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
I don’t enjoy wind. It’s the most jarring of the elements. I'm more tired after being outside in the wind all day then if it was raining, sunny, or snowing.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
The ocean will always be where I am most comfortable. I grew up in a small beach town on the California coast more known for it's clam chowder then waves but I spent my whole childhood in the ocean. It will always be an important part of my life.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9. Only thing above is my family.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was lucky enough to grow up on the central coast of California which lends itself to a life lived outdoors. My first memory of being outdoors is for sure days spent on the beach with my family in Pismo. That’s where my fascination with the ocean began and why I started trekking up and down the coast in search of waves, which eventually led to searching along coastlines around the world!. I remember my mom paddling me out on a boogie board pushing me off into the water and saying the ocean is your friend. I was always scared but I loved the beach.