The Anchorage Museum is hosting an exhibit by one of the foremost photographers of Arctic wildlife. The ambitious shots of polar bears and bowhead whales lend arresting aesthetics to a message of conservation.
39-year-old Florian Schulz has been traveling to Alaska for nearly two decades. Even though he technically still lives in Europe, Schultz spends months at a time above the Arctic Circle, staying in extreme conditions to get a better sense of the places where his wild subjects dwell.
Schulz’s photographs use animals to emphasize habitat. Even though what jumps out in the broad, glossy images are stoic musk oxen and inquisitive owls, Schulz wants them to be seen in an Arctic environment that is as active a character as even the most mercurial Murr.
“For me, it’s really trying to inspire other people by the awe-inspiring beauty of nature itself, so that they will care and hopefully speak up for protecting nature,” Schulz said during an interview.
The work is wedded to environmental conservation–it has to be, because you need to love nature quite a bit to be willing to spend weeks at a time camping at -30 degrees, waiting to get the perfect shot of a polar bear nibbling on a fin-whale’s spine just beyond a glowing blue glacier.
Florian Schulz is giving a presentation on his work Wednesday from 7-8pm at the Anchorage Museum. His“To The Arctic” Exhibit is on display until Sunday, November 1st.
Zachariah Hughes reports on city & state politics, arts & culture, drugs, and military affairs in Anchorage and South Central Alaska.
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