Vewfinder: Ethan Welty

By: What Matters?, 2 years 6 months ago

At 23, photographer and scientist Ethan Zolten Welty has already accomplished more than most people squeeze into a lifetime. From documenting disappearing glaciers for his PhD at the University of Colorado, to capturing both intimate and exotic landscapes, Welty's mixing book smarts and visual talent into one big science-based quest for beauty.

His work has graced the pages of numerous magazines and earned him more than a few honors including the 2010 International Conservation Photography Award's first prize, Best of ASMP 2010, a coveted spot in the competitive Eddie Adams Workshop, a finalist for the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008, among many others. Most recently, two of Ethan s photos were chosen, out of 2,492 other images, for the Blue exhibition at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO.

On a mission to combine two passions into one career, Welty is thinking up new ways science and photography can save wild spaces. Between classes, I caught up with Ethan at a cafe in Boulder to talk photography, science and life. http://www.weltyphotography.com/