Viewfinder: James Balog’s ‘Chasing Ice’

by: Justin Gural

Photographer James Balog believes that through photography our culture can move into believing new ideas. "You can understand it in a different way, because you see things differently."

Compared to having the same 'eye' for landscape photography as Ansel Adams, Balog and his team of experts have created a revolutionary time-lapse photography system that can capture monumental geological transformations in action. Their primary focus: glaciers. The technology can compress years of images into seconds, thus showing how landscapes can change --and sometimes disappear-- at a breathtaking rate.

"The only way for people to understand what's happening, is to show them change," says Sylvia Earle of National Geographic Explorer.

The 'Extreme Ice Survey' is Balog's documentation of retreating glaciers in some of the most remote regions on the planet. "It's an amazing opportunity to see epic things happening right in front of our eyes," claims Balog.

"Chasing Ice" is a feature-length film that documents the success and challenges of the 'Extreme Ice Survey.' Watch the trailer, and check out these images courtesy of Balog's Extreme Ice Survey.

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