Natalie Dennis Back-up

Philip Newman

Philip Newman was born in 1954 and brought up in Caerphilly, South Wales. He developed a keen interest in birds from a young age, and an interest in photography from his father who was a professional photographer. He and his brother would drag him to the fields and moors to photograph the nests that they had found.
In 1976, Newman moved to Aberdeen in Scotland, and saw a wide variety of birds and for the first time, he met ‘serious’ bird photographers. From this point, he decided to give it a go, and to do this he took three major steps forward.
In 1982, he joined the famous ‘Paisley Colour Slide Club’ where he learnt a lot about basic composition, lighting and the importance of paying attention to detail in photographs (from Duncan McEwan).
In 1989, he joined the ‘Zoological Photographic Club’ where he changed from a Nikon camera to Canon’s (of which equipment he is still a great fan of). This turned out to be a major break-through in his career and it allowed him to see some of the work of the U.K.’s leading wildlife photographers on as monthly basis (and to meet them at annual conventions).
In 1999, he made his first overseas trip to Florida, which provided endless photographic opportunities. Since then he has organized trips to Bosque del Apache, Lesvos, Bharatpur, Namibia, Oman, Gambia and Alaska.
Philip Newman’s ambitions (in pursuit of wildlife photographs) are to capture images which are ‘wild and free’ and through the use of sensitive lighting and creative techniques depict the subject in ‘imaginative and refreshing ways.’
By profession, Newman is a geologist and wildlife photography is a serious hobby, however his photographs frequently appear in books and magazines, and are logged with several photographic agencies.

Thomas. D. Mangelsen

Thomas. D. Mangelsen is a Nebraska native, and is recognized as one of the world’s premier nature photographers. His love of nature was heavily influenced by his father, Harold Mangelsen, who used to take him and his brother/s to his favourite spots along the Platte River to hunt and observe the wildlife.
In 1965, Mangelsen began studying business at the University of Nebraska. In 1967, he transferred to Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. After, he continued post-graduate study in Zoology and Wildlife Biology at the University of Nebraska and Colorado State University.
In 1974 he worked as a cinematographer, which led to the opportunity to film whooping cranes for National Geographic called ‘Flight of the Whooping Cranes,’ which consequently resulted in an Emmy nomination.
Mangelsen published his first book in 1989, called the ‘Images of Nature: The Photographs of Thomas D Mangelsen,’ which contained more than 200 of his photographs (he has since published many more books).
In 1994, Thomas Mangelsen received the prestigious ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award’which is sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and British Gas. In 2000, he was named one of the ‘100 Most Important People in Photography’ by American Photo Magazine and was honored with Nikon’s ‘Legend Behind the Lens’ recognition.
Mangelsen’s dedication to preserving the natural world is best stated in his own words; “May these images inspire you to experience and preserve the wonders of our natural world.”

Frans Lanting

Frans Lanting was born July 13th, 1951 in Rotterdam, Holland. Specializing in wildlife photography, he is a Dutch nature photographer who currently lives in Santa Cruz, California, America.
Lanting went to Erasmus University in Rotterdam, earning a Master’s Degree in Environmental Economics in 1977. Emigrating to the U.S., he then enrolled in a postgraduate program in environmental planning at the University of California in Santa Cruz, which he left two years later to concentrate on photography.
Living on the California coast, he found inspiration and was not short of wild subjects to photograph. He described it to Uta Henschel as “It is just as fantastic as if bisons were still running through the suburbs of Chicago.” Lanting would observe them so much that he became familiar with their behaviour as a species, which enabled him to get even closer the more they got used to him. His ability to be unobtrusive towards animals and to live alongside them meant that not only could he photograph them without scaring them away, but also animals that could be potentially dangerous were more at ease with him. These include elephant seals (when felt threatened they can easily kill), which he began photographing on the California coast in the early 1980s. In Botswana he photographed elephants and lions in Africa, where he followed a pride for a month, capturing their hunt one night in which they devoured every part of a giraffe but the bones.
In 1985, Frans Lanting’s career got a boost when National Geographic commissioned him to record (on film) the environmental crisis in Madagascar. It had not been explored much prior to this point, therefore he would be documenting species that had never been seen before, including what turned out to be a species of lemur that hadn’t been named.
Lanting has illustrated many books with his photographs including ‘The Total Penguin’ (by James Gorman,1990) and ‘Elephant Seals’ (by Sylvia A. Johnson, 1989).
He has also created feature stories in magazines such as of the life cycle and migration of the monarch butterfly, and penguins of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island.
Not only photographing for himself, he photographs with the hope that showing pictures of orangutans and other creatures that live in Borneo’s tropical forests will attract attention to the destruction of such forests.
Frans Lanting currently lives near Monterey Bay (a few miles from Santa Cruz), with writer Christine K. Eckstrom who edited one of his books. He is a founding director of the ‘North American Nature Photography Association’, a columnist for ‘Outdoor Photographer’ and an editor for the ‘National Wildlife Federation’ and is also a photographer – in – residence at National Geographic Magazine. In addition to this. he also serves on the board of the ‘National Council of the World Wildlife Fund’, and has won countless awards from BBC1s ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year award’, to top honours in the 1988 and 1989 ‘World Press Photo competition’. He has even been knighted by H.R.H. Prince Bernhard in the Royal Order of the Golden Ark, the Netherland’s highest conservation honor (2001).

Art Wolfe

Art Wolfe was born in 1951 and is an American photographer, noted for his colour photographs of wildlife and nature and his advocacy of wildlife conservation. He is the son of commercial artists in Seattle, Washington.
Graduating from the University of Washington in 1975, he has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with a minor in Art Education.
He has done assignments for National Geographic magazine and produced his first photo book documenting Northwest Indian Baskets. He has taken an estimated one million images in his lifetime, and has released over forty-five books. He is hailed by William Conway (President of the Wildlife Conservation Society), as “the most prolific and sensitive recorder of a rapidly vanishing natural world.”
Wolfe’s achievements include being named ‘Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year’ by the ‘North American Nature Photography Association,’ and awarded a coveted ‘Alfred Eisenstaedt Magazine Photography Award’ in 2000 (among many other awards).
He is also a fellow of ‘The International League of Conservational Photographers,’ an honorary fellow of the ‘Royal Photographic Society,’ and is on the board of advisors of the ‘Wildlife Conservation Society,’‘Nature’s Best Foundation’ and ‘Bridges to Understanding.’
Art Wolfe’s approach to nature photography combine elements of photojournalism and art photography, and his major influences are Ernst Haas and Eliot Porter. The U.S. Postal Service has even used two of his photographs on stamps.