Chasing Ice, a documentary that follows National Geographic environmental photographer and adventurer James Balog takes us on a breathtaking journey across the Arctic as he deploys time-lapse cameras to capture multi-year records of the ever changing glaciers. Balog's videos, composed of thousands of still images, compress years into seconds as they capture ancient ranges of ice melting right before our eyes.
James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change, even with his scientific upbringing. With one trip north, and the visual evidence before him, it sparked an idea within him: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a team of young adventurers, Balog sets out across the Arctic landscapes of Greenland, Iceland, and Alaska to plant time-lapse cameras to record the melting glaciers. According to Balog, visual evidence of our changing planet is what people need, more so than the facts or statistics.
The images are incredibly stunning. They truly capture the power and history of these massive forces of nature. And at the same time, I could feel a sort of serene sadness watching them. Some of the shots are other-worldy. They evoke a simplicity, a beginning of time, and a human-nature relationship. It reminds us that we humans depend on nature as much as nature depends on us.
There is no doubt that the Arctic is changing. You can see it plain and clear in Balog's videos. I believe that teaching the world through the visual is extremely valuable. In such a visually enriched world, there's a growing need to see to believe. But as much as visual evidence is important, we need the facts too. We see the change, but what exactly is changing it? And more importantly, how do we stop it from changing?
Watch the Official Trailer:
Learn more about the film here
No comments:
Post a Comment