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San Francisco, CA – January
13, 2008 – Author, adventurer and nature
photographer James Balog has been selected as the recipient
of the 2007 Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure by the
Rowell Award Judging Panel.
The award was presented on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
at 7:30 p.m. in San Francisco at the Hotel Nikko. The event
was sponsored by the Rowell Legacy Committee and its partners,
The Yosemite Fund and the Commonwealth Club of California.
The Rowell Award celebrates the accomplishments of famed
adventurers and photographers Galen and Barbara Rowell, who
died in a plane crash in 2002. The Rowell Award honors that
adventurer whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places
of the world, and whose accomplishments significantly benefit
both the environment and the people who inhabit these lands
and regions.
James Balog’s images have reflected a lifelong involvement
with the outdoors and his quest to understand the complex
relationship between humans and the environment. His
work grows out of a passion for the environment as an artist,
scientist, explorer and adventurer. He is the author
of six books, including Tree: A New Vision of the American
Forest and Survivors: A New Vision of Endangered
Wildlife, which were hailed as major breakthroughs in
nature photography. Balog’s work has appeared
in numerous publications, including National Geographic,
Smithsonian, Outside, Vanity Fair and Life. He
is a contributing editor to National Geographic Adventure. His
provocative photographs have received widespread international
acclaim and have been exhibited in prominent arts institutions
worldwide. His latest project, the Extreme
Ice Survey, involves
Balog and his team installing 26 time-lapse cameras on 16
glaciers in five countries that will produce over 300,000
images via satellite to document glacial melt over the next
two years.
The $15,000 cash award was established by The Rowell Legacy
Committee, which is composed of family members, friends,
business associates and admirers of the late Barbara and
Galen Rowell.
Download the press release in Microsoft
Word or PDF
Visit Jim Balog's site: www.jamesbalog.com
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Outdoor photographer
Beth Wald was awarded the 2006 Rowell Award for the Art
of Adventure by the Rowell Legacy Committee at a ceremony
featuring keynote speaker Tom Brokaw in San Francisco on
Tuesday, November 28.
In her photography, Wald combines a thirst for adventure
and exploration with a passion for the natural environment
and fascination with the world’s diverse cultures.
She belongs to that rarified club of photographers who
can shuffle lenses, change film and take beautiful pictures
in extreme conditions that have most people struggling
merely to put one foot in front of the other. “I
am drawn to harsh, wild places where life is both fragile
and tenuous.” says Wald, “where one’s
sense of being alive is heightened by extremes of landscape
and weather.”
Her visual exploration of environment and culture has taken
her around the globe, from the Arctic to the tip of South
America, from Pakistan to Cuba, and from the icy Himalayan
peaks to the stifling heat of East Africa’s Great
Rift Valley. Wald’s most recent journeys have taken
her into remote regions of Afghanistan and Tajikistan to
photograph unique mountain tribes and their relation with
wildlife and environment, in order to call attention to
the dire threats to both ancient culture and fragile ecosystems.
In this and in much of Wald’s work, her passion is
to try to make a difference for the people and places that
inspire her. She has donated her time to photograph numerous
projects for a wide variety of organizations, including
Lighthawk, the Sierra Club, the Conservation Land Trust,
Conservacion Patagonica, ANAI, Doctors Without Borders,
and others, covering a wide variety of environmental and
cultural issues from logging, mining and desertification,
to indigenous rights, endangered cultures, and industrial
versus locally based agriculture. Through articles, books,
and the many talks and lectures she gives, her photography
has helped draw attention to clear-cutting in the Western
US and in Southern Chile, to the disappearing cultures
of the Tarahumara Indians of the Sierra Madre of Mexico
to the gauchos of Patagonia to the plight of the people
and environment of Afghanistan ravaged by decades of war
and drought. She is currently in Afghanistan teaching a
course on environmental photojournalism to Afghan journalists.
Wald’s work has appeared in numerous publications,
including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Outside, National
Geographic Adventure, Sports Illustrated, NG Traveler,
Travel and Leisure, Life, The New York Times, Men’s
Journal and Islands. Her commercial work includes extensive
assignments for adventure sportswear companies such as
Patagonia, EMS and The North Face. She has collaborated
on numerous books, and is currently working on a book project
that documents the unique lives of the last of Argentina’s
true gauchos.
Wald said she plans to use the $15,000 award to create
a new generation of “Galens and Barbaras” in
Afghanistan through photojournalism classes.
Todd Skinner, a famed rock climber who died in October
in a fall from Yosemite’s Leaning Tower, nominated
Wald for the honor. A special tribute was paid to Skinner
during the presentation.
Visit Beth's web site: www.bethwaldphotography.com
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| Jimmy and friend |
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Outdoor photographer Jimmy Chin was awarded the inaugural
Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure by the Rowell Legacy
Committee at a ceremony in San Francisco on Wednesday, May
4. The Rowell Award honors that adventurer whose artistic passion
illuminates the wild places of the world, and whose accomplishments
significantly benefit both the environment and the people who inhabit these
lands and regions. The Rowell Award celebrates the accomplishments of famed
adventurers and photographers Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a plane
crash in 2002. In Jimmy Chin's absence (he is currently climbing Annapurna),
his sister Grace accepted the award on his behalf.
Chin's recent assignments include climbing the world's tallest
freestanding sandstone towers in Mali, Africa and climbing
Mt. Everest in 2004 with David Breashears and Ed Viesturs,
while shooting the documentary video and production stills
for a feature Universal Studios film. Along with Conrad
Anker and Rick Ridgeway, Jimmy was a member of Galen Rowell's
last expedition that traversed the Chang Tang plateau in
Tibet in 2002.
Jimmy's creative eye behind the lens and attention to detail have won him accolades
from commercial and editorial clients including National Geographic , National
Geographic Adventure , Men's Journal , Climbing , Outside and ESPN magazines
as well as The North Face and Patagonia.
In "giving back", Jimmy's photography work has assisted
in the protection of the rare chiru antelope in Tibet. He
is a member of the Outdoor Industry Conservation Alliance
and the Advisory Board for the Rowell Fund for Tibet. Jimmy
has also been involved with the Central Asia Institute in
Pakistan and the Khumbu Climbing School in Nepal.
This $15,000 annual cash award was established by The Rowell
Legacy Committee, which is composed of family members, friends,
business associates and admirers of the late Barbara and
Galen Rowell. Its hope is that Galen and Barbara's
work and the award will serve to inspire in others the love
of the human experience in the environment and the desire
to protect the wild and special places on our planet.
Visit Jimmy's web site: www.jimmychin.com
Download the press release in
PDF format
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Galen and Barbara Rowell
Photo courtesy Frans Lanting |
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The Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure honors that adventurer
whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places of the
world, and whose accomplishments significantly benefit both
the environment and the peoples who inhabit these lands and
regions.
This $15,000 annual cash award was established by The
Rowell Legacy Committee composed of friends, business
associates and admirers of the late Barbara and Galen
Rowell. The award will be presented to an individual
selected by a panel of
active and influential members of the outdoor adventure
world.
The award was announced in May 2004 at the first annual
Rowell Lecture, held in San Francisco's Fairmount Hotel.
The lecture, Crossing Tibet's Chang Tang Plateau, was
co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Club of California and drew
a crowd of nearly 500. World-renowned mountaineers and adventurers
Conrad Anker and Rick Ridgeway showed slides and video of
an epic, 275-mile unsupported trek. They were the first to
document the birthing grounds of the chiru, an endangered
wild Tibetan antelope.
We invite you to become a supporter of this award. Yosemite
Fund has graciously offered to
provide an office and staffing for the award. Contributions
to the Rowell Legacy Fund will be deposited to a separate
account and administered by the Rowell Legacy Committee
with professional financial assistance provided by
the Yosemite Fund. Contributions to the Rowell Legacy Fund
are tax-deductible. Please make checks payable to Rowell
Legacy Fund /Yosemite Fund, and send care of The Yosemite
Fund, 155 Montgomery St., Suite 1104, San Francisco, CA
94104. Donations will be used to fund the Rowell Award
for the Art of Adventure.
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Conrad Anker - Honorary Chair
Tom Brokaw - Honorary Chair
Rick Ridgeway - Honorary Chair
Erik Weihenmayer - Honorary Chair
Carole Angermier
Justin Black
Linda Brownstein
Karen Collins
Peter Croft
Bob & Beth Cushman
Dick Dorworth
Dick Duane
Jerry Edelbrock
Dan Flanagan
Lydia Graham
Bob Hansen
Dan Herz
James Kuhns
Frans Lanting
Linda Liscom
Doug McConnell
Linda McMillan
Chris McNamara
Phil Powers
Corey Rich
Tony Rowell
Ray & Nicole Rowell Ryan
Tracy Thompson
Bob Tribe
Galen Rowell greets an arctic sunset. By Tony
Rowell 1997.
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Conrad Anker
America’s best known and most accomplished mountain
climber, noted author and photographer, credited with finding
the body of British climber George Mallory, who disappeared
on Mt. Everest in 1924.
Richard Blum
Founder and partner of Blum Capital Partners, philanthropist,
husband of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, friend of the
Tibetan and Nepalese people, founder and chair of the American-Himalayan
Foundation.
Dick Dorworth
Close friend and climbing partner of Galen Rowell, former
holder of world speed skiing record, currently a guide,
ski instructor and newspaper columnist in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Family Member
A member of Galen and Barbara’s families will sit on
the panel. The position will alternate annually between the
two families. Nicole Rowell Ryan, Galen’s daughter,
will act in this capacity in 2004-2005.
Frans Lanting
One of the world’s premier wildlife photographers,
close friend of the Rowells, Photographer-in-Residence at
the National Geographic Society.
Doug McConnell
San Francisco TV personality and host of the popular weekly “Bay
Area Backroads” show, adventurer and friend of Galen
and Barbara Rowell who filmed several segments of their work
for television. McConnell is co-chair of the Rowell Legacy
Committee.
Chris McNamara
One of the most famous big wall climbers of his era and a
frequent climbing partner and protégé of
Galen Rowell. At age 25 he has more than 60 ascents of
El Capitan to his credit, has published nine climbing guidebooks,
and founded the non-profit American Safe Climbing Assn.
Duane Raleigh
Editor and Publisher of the climbing magazine Rock and Ice,
well known for his extensive knowledge of the climbing and
mountaineering world.
Corey Rich
One of the world's premier adventure photographers, he contrantly
travels the globe where he captures everything from freight
train hopping in the American West to snowboarding in Papua
New Guinea.
Steven Werner
Owner/partner of Werner Publishing, whose portfolio includes
Outdoor Photographer, Pilot Journal and Plane & Pilot.
Galen and Barbara Rowell were frequent and popular contributors
to these magazines. |
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