Members Opening for “Thomas D. Mangelsen: A LIFE IN THE WILD” exhibition
Thomas D. Mangelsen’s A Life in the Wild Matters to the Planet. The 40 large-format photographs draw us into places we may never have the chance to see with our own eyes. They provide us an intimate experience of creatures we are never likely to encounter in the wild, if anywhere. From the grizzly bears of Yellowstone National Park to elephant herds in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park to mountain gorillas in the lush Rwandan jungle, Manglesen’s images both whet and fulfill our yearning for the beautiful. The iconic. The sublime. They remind us of the wildness lost in our own lives and of the wilderness we need to protect in the world.
Like Roger Tory Peterson, Thomas D. Mangelsen is an accomplished artist and a consummate conservationist. Roger, for instance, was among the leading voices for banning DDT, which led to the recovery of ospreys, bald eagles and many other bird species. Mangelsen’s fieldwork fueled legislation that halted grizzly hunting in Wyoming. He is a co-founder of The Cougar Fund, which protects cougars throughout the Americas. Mangelsen also serves on the international advisory council for the Jane Goodall Institute, which promotes understanding and protection of great apes.
Additionally, Thomas D. Mangelsen is a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), which promotes ethical nature photography. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including: American Photo magazine’s 100 Most Important People in Photography, the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award, and Nikon’s Legend Behind the Lens. Like Roger Tory Peterson, Thomas D. Mangelsen was a member of the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) who awarded him Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year.
Mangelsen’s 50-year career lies squarely at the nexus of art and conservation. In him, the two are inseparable. A Life in the Wild, in fact, Mangelsen’s entire life work as an artist-conservationist, is Art that Matters to the Planet.