Ian Shive
Ian Shive is an Ansel award-winning American photographer and filmmaker whose work documents some of the world’s most pristine environments and brings to the public important conservation stories from around the globe. In 2020, Ian launched a new series on Discovery Channel titled Nature in Focus, where he explores our planet as host and executive producer. In 2019, Ian led several expeditions to some of the world’s most remote coral atolls for the giant-screen film, Hidden Pacific, which he directed and produced. Hidden Pacific brings to life in IMAX 3D the vibrant marine national monuments at the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean — thriving ecosystems filled with colorful coral reefs, large colonies of birds, and threatened species that depend on these habitats for survival. He is the author of several, best-selling books including the award-winning The National Parks: An American Legacy, and is proud to announce the release of his next, hardcover book Refuge: America’s Wildest Places, which celebrates the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Based in Los Angeles, Ian is also the founder and CEO of Tandem Stills + Motion, a leading outdoor media company. Check him on Instagram.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peace. Indiscriminate. Foundational
3 things Nature taught you?
That beauty exists all around us, even in the smallest details.
To be at peace with all around me, and treat others with the same peace.
That we are all connected, not just as people, but as a part of nature.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Channel Islands National Park, California
Shoshone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, New Jersey
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small. Curious to explore. Sad that something so big could suffer so much by our hands
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Tranquility. A part of it, as though I could blend in and not be seen
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
That I am witness to something still in progress.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
I sense time most acutely. I feel joy at both.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excitement!
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cozy. Time to light a fire.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain, Desert, Forest, Ocean - in that order.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Where I lived in New Jersey, we didn't have access to the big nature of national parks, but we had small parks. Ducks, fish in a pond, turtles in a creek. It was the small things, little trips daily to the water's edge that I think really impacted me the most, and where I began an appreciation of all of nature, large and small. I remember my parents always being patient, taking me to those places where my young imagination could be so lit up by the natural world.
Susan Rockefeller
Susan Rockefeller is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, artist, and conservationist. Her latest endeavor, Musings is a digital magazine that curates ideas and innovations that pave the way for a more sustainable future. As the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Musings, Susan offers a portal to vetted products and brands that are pioneers in health, environmental, and social consciousness.
Susan is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and is additionally an advisor to Food Systems 6, MADE SAFE, Oceanic Global, and Ohana & Co. In her film work, Rockefeller is a Principal of Louverture films and a member of the Film Committee for the Museum of Modern Art. Her own original films include: Food For Thought, Food for Life, Striking a Chord, Making the Crooked Straight, and Mission of Mermaids, have aired on HBO, PBS, and the Discovery Channel.
A longstanding philanthropist, Susan sits on the boards of Oceana, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, We are Family Foundation, Southampton Arts Center, and Land and Garden Preserve.
3 words to describe Nature?
Powerful. Beautiful. Mysterious
3 things Nature taught you?
How to observe
How to listen
How to imagine my place in the cycle of living and dying
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sagaponack Beach, Long Island, NY
Little Long Pond, Seal Harbor, MAINE
Kobuk River, Alaska
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Mesmerized, in rhythm with life’s current and my own.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Like I want to lie down, feel the warmth of the sun, look at the sky, and smell the forest scents around me.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Like I want to climb to the top of Stromboli again and glissade down the ash!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
A sunrise gives rise to the promise of a new day and I yearn to feel that promise - a sunset is a reminder of the passing of another precious day and I feel reflective of whether I made the day count before retreating into a night slumber.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Alert with anticipation of oncoming rain and the possibility of lighting.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like God’s voice is present
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Love them all. But more an Ocean person for the mermaid in me, a forest person for plants as medicine and the healer in me, a mountain person for vistas and wildflowers, and a desert person for the dry heat of the day in which to hike, and the deep dark blackness of a desert night sky.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Scales don’t measure it - it is not linear and way beyond a scale; more like a kaleidoscope of delight, color, mystery, and vital to my well being and to all life.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Being on a sandy beach with my brother and sister, digging into the warm sand and mesmerized by the variety of colors in the sand itself, diving into the ocean waves and belonging and feeling at one with the waves, salt water, sun, and sand - delighting in the joy of it all. Pure imaginative, physical joy, and happy memories of being a child at play and in wonder with my family.
Cory Trepanier
Cory Trépanier is a Canadian landscape painter and filmmaker best known for his detailed oil paintings of the Canadian wilderness. He is also the creator of five films documenting his extensive painting journeys: "A Painter’s Odyssey", "Into the Arctic", "Into the Arctic II”, "TrueWild: Kluane” and "Into the Arctic: Awakening"
Canadian Geographic named Trépanier one of Canada’s Top 100 Living Explorers. He is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a National Champion of the Great Trail, and a member of The Explorers Club, where he received the Canadian Chapters highest award, the Stefansson Medal.
In 2019, Cory partnered with the Canadian Geographic Education to create the INTO THE ARCTIC Film Trilogy K-12 teachers guide where his films are being made available to educators and students nationwide and beyond for free. Seven modules educate and engage about geography, environmental and social sciences, humanities, Indigenous culture, history, survival, and the arts.
In the Fall of 2020, Trépanier is set to launch a coffee table book entitled "INTO THE ARCTIC: Paintings of Canada’s Changing North" with Rocky Mountain Books. The coffee table book will feature his Arctic paintings, sketches and stories and feature a foreward by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Trépanier has been featured in media around the globe, and his documentaries broadcast internationally, sharing his passion for the wild places that he explores and paints.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Irreplaceable. Freedom
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Wonder
Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The forest behind my home and studio in Caledon, Ontario
Lake Superior’s Canadian coastline
The Canadian Arctic. Can that 1.5 million square kilometres of archipelago be consider a “spot”?
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Very small, but free, and curious about what lies beyond
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Alive, surrounded by an endless living biodiversity, a nursery to so many forms of life
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
In awe at the power of nature, and wanting to reach of for my easel some day to try and paint this stunning display from life “en plein air”
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
At peace, and grateful for a new to come, another day lived, and a new world about to unfold in the night sky
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Excited for the show that is about to begin. And like a kid, reaching for a bar of soap and running outside into a rain storm for a quick shower, feeling the rain drops pelting down and stinging my skin as it washes me clean
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Awakened, as fresh air rushes into my lungs with each breath I get a sense of adventure tingling inside. I want to face into it with my eyes closed and feel it rush by.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Being an Ontario native, I grew up more of a Forest person. My painting expeditions however — to the Arctic and other places — have deepened my appreciation for Mountains and Oceans in the last couple of decades. And even the Desert, as in the Polar Desert. I long to bring my easel to a hot desert some day, to try and capture the stunning beauty of its sandy curves and desert sun. Maybe then I will become more of a desert person too :)
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
Ten. With so much negativity and challenges in the world — especially now in these unprecedented times of a pandemic and environmental degradation — time in nature, or even just contemplating nature, reminds me that there is so much to celebrate in this world. It feeds my sense of wonder and appreciation for each breath I take, and inspires me to share this experience with others, in hopes that they too may have their lives enriched by this gift that is available for free to all.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I was maybe 10 or 11, and my family had moved to a farm near North Bay, Ontario: 200 hundred acres that backed onto 2,000 acres of Crown land. There was a creek behind our place, and my older brother Carl I had a small leaky dingy that we barely fit in. We got up early, dragged it through the field, and began meandering down the creek into the unexplored frontiers of our “backyard”. Chasing frogs, seeing waterfowl of all kinds, we were drawn onward by the lure of the unknown that lay beyond each bend. We carried on our quest until the sun lowered in the sky, eventually making our way back home. It was 30 years later, when my brother joined me in the Arctic for a month-long expedition to Ellesmere Island, that I realized how deeply that day from our youth, and many others like, embedded a desire for me to be in nature. A desire that would grow into a life long pursuit.
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.
Dana Romanoff
Dana Romanoff is an internationally acclaimed photojournalist and filmmaker dedicated to making a difference in the world. Whether she is sleeping on animal skins in Ethiopia, hunting with tribes in the jungles of West Papua, driving around with gang bangers in the U.S. or summiting 19,000 foot peaks with adaptive climbers, her work is intimate, layered and soulful and creates relationships and reveals inner lives. Her award-winning imagery, films and commercials foster understanding and create change.
She has received prestigious awards and recognition for tackling significant social issues including her recent film “Noah" which was featured on Upworthy, The Guardian, The Atlantic, RYOT and National Geographic Digital Showcase and won awards at the 2017 W3 Awards, Telly Awards and Communicator Awards and the 2017 Spirit of Activism Special Jury Award at the Crested Butte Film Festival. As co-Director and Director of Photography of National Park Experience, an independent film series celebrating diversity and youth in the National Parks, her documentaries have been broadcasted on PBS and Smithsonian Channel. “Confluence” a feature length doc released in 2018 is currently winning awards touring festivals and universities. Another short film, “Canyon Song” won the 2017 Director’s Choice Award at Flagstaff Mountain Festival, 2017 Award of Merit in the Best Shorts Competition and the 2017 Social Awareness Award at Wasatch Mountain Film Festival. Dana's work is syndicated with Getty Reportage and she is a Getty Global Assignments Photographer, Blue Earth Awarded Photographer and a Director working with Stept Studios and Blue Chalk Media. Her clients include National Geographic Magazine, New York Times, Esquire, Forbes, GQ, Men's Journal, National Geographic Traveler, The Sunday Times, USA Today, UNICEF, and many others.
In 2019, she directed a short film for Budweiser, “For The Fathers Who Stepped Up”, which has been viewed 3.3M times on the Budweiser YouTube channel only.
3 words to describe Nature?
Connected. Necessary. Healing
3 things Nature taught you?
Nature is one of the greatest teachers.
I’ve learned that nature doesn’t need us, but we need nature.
That all living things are connected.
That we should cooperate, not compete with nature.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
My family home on a tiny lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
An incredible waterfall pouring from the jungles of West Papua, Indonesia into the Indian ocean.
A blooming field of wildflowers surrounded by the Rocky Mountain FlatIrons along the Mesa Trail in my backyard in Boulder, Colorado.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Humbled and inconsequential
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
A sense of security
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
I haven’t seen that many volcanos!
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Reflective and grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Energized and on alert
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Uneasy. Howling wind makes any situation more epic whether it be dodging shopping carts while walking through a parking lot or precariously balanced on a 14,000 ft ridge.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I would probably say Forrest. A person’s true nature emerges in the deep woods.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
A 10. On a high level, without a healthy earth and nature we are in big trouble. As an individual, my mental and physical health is very closely linked to my time spent in nature.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I remember my first backcountry camping experience near a lake in the Adirondack Mountains. I had heard the warnings about bears and was very aware of the food I was carrying in my backpack and needed to suspend in a bear bag from the towering pine trees. That night in my tent I was on high alert. Every branch that snapped I was sure was a bear. Feeding my anxiety was a deep growl that repeated for many hours. When I could not take the fear any longer I screamed out and awoke my friends, more experienced backpackers, in the next tent over. They listened cautiously until they deducted that it was most definitely a bullfrog.
Michael Shainblaum
Michael Shainblum is a landscape, timelapse and aerial photographer based in San Francisco, California. He has been working professionally as a photographer and filmmaker for 11 years since the age of 16. Michael first made a name for himself through his unique creativity and the ability to capture scenes and moments in his distinct style of surreal, visual story telling. A dedication to challenging the boundaries of creativity, as well as a flair for coming up with unique ideas, has since resulted in this dynamic visual artist being commissioned by large clients including Nike, Samsung, Facebook, LG, Apple and Google. You will also be able to find Michael's work published widely by media outlets such as National Geographic, Wired Magazine and The Weather Channel.
3 words to describe Nature?
Majestic. Unpredictable. Therapeutic
3 things Nature taught you?
How to truly appreciate the world we live in and just how much we need to protect it.
It has given me a sense of purpose in my life to be honest, through my photography and my art.
It had also taught me to appreciate the little things in life and to drown out the daily struggles. Laying down for a nap in the Sand Dunes, or enjoying the reflection of a mountain in a lake, these moments have helped me through some tough times.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Just my most recent nature spot I have been too. Each place is special and I feel like my most recent trips are the ones I have fresh memories about capturing.
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At home, I grew up by the ocean and I do not think I could live far from it.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Adventurous, nothing like a good hike through the forest.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Conflicted, so much powerful, yet devastating beauty.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
I have been shooting sunrise for over a week now here during winter in Utah and it has been bone chillingly cold. Yet every time I wake up and get to witness that beautiful morning light, it is worth it. I suppose it makes me feel fulfilled.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited, I absolutely love capturing and witnessing lightning strikes.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like hopefully the timelapse camera I have set up is not going to blow over :P
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean just based on how I grew up, but I love capturing everything. The desert is my favorite at the moment, with all the incredible shapes, colors and textures.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10, I have dedicated my life now to capturing the beauty of nature and I would not have it any other way.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Funny enough I was never fully able to appreciate nature as a kid. I mean I went to the park and to the beach. But camping and hiking came a bit later on in my life during college. My family never had the ability to travel and the outdoors was never something that interested them. I found my appreciation of being outdoors through photography and I am so appreciative of that.