A: Is for the Art that Sheds Light!

I was researching tree art when I came upon photographer James Balog. Winner of the 2007 Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure and the 2008 award The North American Nature Photography Association. The reason was his EIS project. The best way to understand global warming is to set up a cameras in the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere. An hourly photographic chronicle from 2006 until 2009 of melting glaciers began that he called EIS - Extreme Ice Survey. Eis, is also the German word for ice. Extreme Ice Survey is an ambitious project to capture global warming and glacial retreat in the act. Starting in December 2006, photographer James Balog and his colleagues set up 26 solar-powered cameras at glaciers in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, the Alps, and the Rocky Mountains. In 2008, Balog's team began to return to each of the camera sites to collect images. In the end, they will have more than 300,000 images to analyze and stitch together to produce dramatic and eye opening videos. This kind of multiyear effort, says Balog, is necessary to 'radically alter public perception of the global warming issue.'" and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have partnered to develop and present a new exhibition of breathtaking videos and 24 of Balog’s spectacular photographs, featuring glaciers that reflect the rugged—and vanishing—beauty of some of the most extreme and remote environments on Earth. Balog has been breaking new ground in the art of nature photography for 25 years. The Extreme Ice Survey, combines art and activism on a remarkable scale. From Greenland to Antarctica, the world is losing its ice faster than anyone thought possible. Primary sponsors include National Geographic, NASA and the National Science Foundation, with several companies providing equipment. More exposure should come via the PBS series Nova, which is planning a program on the project for next year, and an IMAX film is also in the works. The photographer is planning a book for 2009 or '10 and is hoping to create a site on Google Earth. This multipronged approach is needed to counter the skeptics. "The argument that we're not involved (in climate change) is immoral. It reminds me of the Medieval Era, when people dumped garbage and human waste on the street, with no thought that it might cause disease." "Society is in denial," he said. "I find myself being bizarrely optimistic. I've always believed that photography is a way to shape human perception. People need to see that this is happening, this is real, this needs to change. Failure is not an option." To discover this project on you own go to http://www.extremeicesurvey.org/ but expect to spend hours as it is truly awing and that is a F.A.C.T.