Knowing Where to Stand: NANPA Environmental Impact Award Winners
A little over 25 years ago, Roger Tory Peterson invited about 100 of the nation’s most accomplished nature photographers to visit RTPI to discuss the future of nature photography. (Roger, himself, was an accomplished nature photographer – RTPI is home to more than 200,000 of his original images.) The result of the gathering was the formation of the North American Nature Photography Association.
Today, boasting 2,500 members, NANPA provides information, education, inspiration, and opportunity for all persons interested in nature photography through tools and principles that include ethics, conservation, advocacy, education, and networking.
NANPA acknowledges excellence in the field through a robust awards program, which includes its Environmental Impact Award. This award honors a photographic project undertaken by an individual or a team that addresses an important and urgent regional or global environmental problem.
RTPI is proud to host the first exhibition of current and past winners of the Environmental Impact Award. Award winners featured include:
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2025: Amy Gulick (The Salmon Way)
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2023: Daniel J. Cox (Arctic Documentary Project)
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2021: Tom Blagden (The Grand Canyon)
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Krista Schlyer (Ay Mariposa/The Borderlands Project)
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2019: Clay Bolt (Beautiful Bees: Protecting North America’s Native Bees)
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2017: Michael Forsberg (Platte Basin Time Lapse) à PRINTING
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Carlton Ward, Jr., Mallory Dimmit and Joe Gutherie (Florida Wildlife Corridor)
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2015: Niall Benvie and Clay Bolt (Meet Your Neighbours)
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2013: James Balog (Chasing Ice)
The title of the exhibition comes from American landscape photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams (1902-1984): “A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” Through their photographs, the Environmental Impact Award winners display both their prowess behind a lens, and their stance on critical environmental issues.