Chasing Ice
Climate change seems to usually be described through graphs or charts along with number of degrees predicted and millimetres or even metres of sea level projected to rise. It’s hard to relate to that or even know where the science is on all of this as it’s communicated in a relatively abstract way. Yes it’s happening but we have no way to relate to it physically until it’s potentially too late. Photographer James Balog set out to describe this in more accessible ways and obviously in a visual way.
Balog became interested in photography while working on his master’s degree in geomorphology—the processes that shape landscapes. That interest blossomed into a very successful career as a photographer for the likes of National Geographic. Chasing Ice is the result of the Extreme Ice Survey project Balog started in 2007. The idea was to deploy cameras to a number of glaciers and compile high-quality, time-lapse imagery over long enough time periods to clearly see the glaciers melting back.
The kit and planning that goes into to something like this is staggering. A screenshot from the trailer shows piles and piles of Nikon D200s (current for the time) being prepped for use in the extreme environments of Iceland, Greenland and many more places. I also found a TED Talk which gives further background and the other kit shot shown below.
The result of all this footage is the film entitled Chasing Ice, the trailer is shown below. The scale of the change taking place is hard to contemplate but one clip hosted at The Guardian shows an area the size of Manhattan breaking of over a period of 75 minutes.
Via ArsTechnica