In his 40 years as a photographer, James Balog has broken new conceptual and artistic ground on one of the most important issues of our era: the human modification of nature. An avid mountaineer with a graduate degree in geography and geomorphology, Balog is equally at home on a Himalayan peak or a whitewater river, the African savannah, or polar icecaps. His 2018 film “The Human Element” is an innovative look at the intersection of humanity and the rest of nature; it has received numerous awards and been screened worldwide.
Balog is the author of eight books. His images have been collected in dozens of art collections, both public and private, and extensively published in the world’s magazines, particularly National Geographic. Many organizations have given Balog their highest accolades, including The Heinz Foundation, American Geophysical Union, Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Duke University, and the universities of Alberta, Missouri, and Colorado.
Balog is currently A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.