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.
Nicole Stott
Nicole Stott has explored from the heights of outer space to the depths of our oceans. In awe of what she experienced from these very special vantage points, she has dedicated her life to sharing the beauty of space ~ and Earth ~ with others. She believes that sharing these orbital and inner space perspectives has the power to increase everyone’s appreciation of and obligation to care for our home planet and each other.
A veteran NASA Astronaut, her experience includes two spaceflights and 104 days living and working in space on both the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). She performed one spacewalk and was the first person to fly the robotic arm to capture the free flying HTV cargo vehicle. Nicole was the last crew member to fly to and from their ISS mission on a Space Shuttle. She was also a crew member of the final flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-133.
Stott is the first person to paint a watercolor in space, which is now on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in DC.
As a NASA Aquanaut, in preparation for spaceflight and along with her NEEMO9 crew, Nicole lived and worked for 3 weeks on the Aquarius undersea habitat, the longest saturation mission to date.
Now retired from NASA, Nicole combines her artwork and spaceflight experience to inspire creative thinking about solutions to our planetary challenges, to raise awareness of the surprising interplay between science and art, and to promote the amazing work being done every day in space to improve life right here on Earth. She is the founder of the Space for Art Foundation and co-founder of Constellation.Earth.
She recently was featured in the National Geographic documentary series, hosted by Will Smith, about our planet called “One Strange Rock”, she is featured in the award-winning short film “Overview” by Planetary Collective, and she is a regular supporter of BBC radio and TV with a special focus on space exploration and our home planet.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peace. Life. Reflection
3 things Nature taught you?
Appreciation
Everything is connected
Respect
3 most treasured Nature spots?
On a space station in awe of the view of Earth from space.
Bari reef in Bonaire
My backyard
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At one with something much bigger than myself.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Chilly and wanting to look up and appreciate the majesty of the trees surrounding me.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
A little bit of fear, total respect for the power and beauty and unpredictability, and like I should keep a very respectful distance.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Relaxed and in awe and with an increased awareness of the fact that we live on a planet.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Like curling up on the couch with my dogs.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like a kid in Florida on the beach before a big rain.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All of the above. If I had to pick it would be ocean (surrounded by mountains, forests and desert).
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
On the space station we are traveling at 17500 mph or 5 miles per second, so we orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, which means that every 45 minutes we are presented with a stunning sunrise or sunset out the window. I loved to watch the Earth during the 45 minutes of "night". The glinting lights below outlined where the people were in contrast to the deep darkness of the oceans that cover most of our planet. The ever-changing weather moved above it all. The lightening of a thunderstorm in Florida whipped its way around the planet, flashing light over it like neurons firing across a brain. It was like I was watching all the beautiful action below me with the mute button on. It reminded me of thunderstorms from my childhood when I was growing up in Florida, and how I had imagined that the thunderstorm was happening only over my town, and when it was gone, it was gone. It had never occurred to me that the storm was zooming around the world, like the nervous system of a planet that looked alive. From space, I saw that lightning never exists in one place. It’s constantly on the move. This revelation led me to understand the life-changing truth of the undeniable interconnectivity of everyone and everything on Earth and that whatever happens in one part of the planet affects the whole. The reality check that we live on a planet, we are all Earthlings, and the only border that matters is the thin blue line of atmosphere that protects us all.
Gaelin Rosenwaks
GAELIN ROSENWAKS is a marine scientist, explorer, photographer and filmmaker. She began her career working in Antarctica researching over-wintering patterns of Southern Ocean zooplankton after which she earned her Master’s Degree researching the migratory movements of Giant Bluefin Tunas. Alarmed by the changes happening in the oceans, Gaelin founded Global Ocean Exploration, Inc. to share her passion for ocean exploration, marine conservation, and fishing through powerful imagery, words and adventure. She now participates and conducts expeditions in every ocean to alert the public not only to the challenges facing the oceans, but also to what science is doing to understand these changes.
Gaelin is a US Coast Guard Licensed Captain, and a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers Club and the Society of Women Geographers. She has published articles in scientific journals, newspapers and magazines and has delivered lectures at many institutions including the Explorers Club, Patagonia, Inc and Yale University. She has also appeared as a scientific consultant and angler on the National Geographic Channel Series, Fish Warrior. Her photography has been displayed in many exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at Duke University, The Maritime Aquarium and the Patagonia Upper West Side Store in NYC. To Gaelin, there is nothing better than being in the open ocean surrounded by endless blue water and passing wildlife.
3 words to describe Nature?
Alive. Complex. Powerful
3 things Nature taught you?
Resilience, the fragility and robustness of life
Respect
How everything in life is interconnected
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Montauk, New York
Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
The Antarctic Peninsula
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At ease, the ocean is where I belong.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Respectful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Grateful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Excited; there is nothing quite as powerful as watching and feeling a storm roll in. The first rumblings of thunder indicate that a storm is coming. When at sea, thunder takes on a different meaning as lightning is so dangerous when on a vessel, but on land, there are few things more rejuvenating than a thunderstorm.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Like a small speck on the earth
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, if not more. Nature is everything.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was 8 years old, I snorkeled for the first time in Bali, Indonesia. When I put my head under the water, the colors and movement were overwhelming to my senses. I already loved the ocean, but I will never forget this moment. It opened my eyes to the magic and the mysteries below the surface.
Mario Cyr
MARIO CYR is an internationally renowned expedition leader for Arctic and Antarctic missions. He is a cold-water diving expert and a world-class cinematographer. Cyr has participated in more than 150 films for broadcasters such as National Geographic, DiscoveryChannel, the BBC, IMAX 3D, Disney Productions, CBC and David Suzuki, la Société Cousteau, France 2, Arte and NHK Japan. In 2011, he won the Palme d’Or at the Festival d’Antibes for Walrus:Toothed Titans. His contribution to Oceans, directed by Jacques Perrin, helped the film win a César for Best Documentary. In 2013, his Ice Bear 3D got an Emmy nomination.
Originally from the Magdalen Islands, located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Mario has become one of the very few specialists of cold water diving, capturing spectacular and unique scenes from marine life in the Arctic and Antarctic poles. In 1991, he pioneered filming wild walrus packs and polar bears at a very close range. His expertise and knowledge has enabled him to film authentic and never-before-seen underwater images of swimming polar bears and a female walrus nursing her young.
3 words to describe Nature?
Imposing. Splendid. Fragile
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience. Listening. Time arranges many things
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The beach Old Harry Magdalen Island
Queen Charlotte Island
Tuvalu Island, South Pacific
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
I feel infinitely small.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
I keep repeating myself that all trees are alive.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
That we are tiny in front of such a power.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
That I am lucky to see such beauty.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
For some reason, I always think of past empires and the fear they instilled through their powerful conquests.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
I return to my childhood when I hid under the patio afraid of the high winds.
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
My summer on a splendid beach Bluff on the Magdalen Island.