Boyd Norton (born April 8, 1936) is an American photographer, known for his work in wilderness photography and his

environmental activism The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

. He is the photographer/author of 17 books covering topics such as from

African elephant African elephants are members of the genus ''Loxodonta'' comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (''L. africana'') and the smaller African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''). Both are social herbivores with grey skin. ...

mountain gorilla The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN . There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga Mountains, Virunga volcanic mountains of C ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

and issues of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

n and Rocky Mountain conservation. He contributed photographs to the Environmental Protection Agency's

Documerica Documerica (portmanteau of "document" and "America"; stylized as DOCUMERICA) was a program sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to "photographically document subjects of environmental concern" in the United States from ...

project in the early 1970s.

Life and career

In August 1960, during a cross-country trip to California, Norton fell in love with the

Teton Range The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park, ...

and took a job as a

nuclear scientist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

with the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by the U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President Harry ...

Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls is the fourth most populous city in Idaho and the county seat of Bonneville County. It is the state's most populous city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 64,818.2020 Cen ...

Boyd Norton (2016), Conservation Photography Handbook, chapter 1, Amherst Media so that he could live nearby.

Hells Canyon Hells Canyon is a canyon in the Western United States, along the border of eastern Oregon, western Idaho, and a small section of eastern Washington. It is part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area which is also located in part of ...

, located at the border of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, was the first place where Norton used his photography to further an environmental cause. In 1969, his photographs of Hells Canyon were instrumental in convincing Oregon

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Bob Packwood Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1969 to 1995. He resigned from the U.S. Senate under threat of expulsion, in 1995 ...

to introduce the establishing

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area on the borders of the U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, the recreation area was e ...

. His photographs also helped establish Jedediah Smith Wilderness next to

Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is a national park of the United States in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. G ...

, and the Sawtooth National Wilderness. His book ''Alaska: Wilderness Frontier'' described the lands that would be protected by the

Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) is a United States federal law signed by President Jimmy Carter on December 2, 1980. ANILCA provided varying degrees of special protection to over of land, including national parks, n ...

. At his request, copies of the book were sent to every member of congress. Since then, his environmental activism has extended worldwide. In 1990, together with

David Brower David Ross Brower ( ; July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies (1997), Friends of the Earth (1969), Ear ...

, he lobbied Russian Foreign Minister

Edward Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia for several non-c ...

to gain support for the designation of Siberia's Lake Baikal as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. The book with his photographs that chronicles the journey taken by

Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and onetime CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he is the only writer to have won the Nat ...

brought Lake Baikal to the attention of English-language readers. In 2010, Norton and Dave Blanton co-founded Serengeti Watch to oppose a commercial highway across the

Serengeti National Park The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located in eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in 1940. The Se ...

. His book ''Serengeti: The Eternal Beginning'' resulting from 26 years of photography in the Serengeti was called a "huge success as a platform for conservation." He has himself written a ''Conservation Photography Handbook''. Boyd Norton is a founder and Fellow of the

International League of Conservation Photographers International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. He was on the board of directors for the

North American Nature Photography Association The North American Nature Photography Association or NANPA is an organization dedicated to photography of nature. The association's headquarters were originally in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and now are in Alma, Illinois. Established in 1994, NANPA jo ...

.Boards of Directors List for NANPA
nanpa.org In 2015, he received the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography The Ansel Adams Award for Photography, formally called Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, named in honor of American photographer Ansel Adams, is a photography award administered by the Sierra Club. The award "honor photographers who ...

. File:ABANDONED BUILDING - NARA - 549221.jpg File:WHITE CANYON NEAR SIPAPU BRIDGE. NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT - NARA - 545300.jpg File:SHIPROCK IN SMOG - PHOTOGRAPHED FROM MESA VERDE - NARA - 544944.jpg File:TRANQUIL STRETCH OF THE SNAKE RIVER IN HELLS CANYON ON THE IDAHO-OREGON STATE LINE. ALTERNATION OF THE RIVER BETWEEN... - NARA - 549445.jpg File:FOREST OF ASPENS AT OWL CREEK PASS - NARA - 544872.jpg File:ANCIENT INDIAN DWELLING, BUILT BETWEEN 1100 AND 1300 A.D HOVENWEEP NATIONAL MONUMENT - NARA - 544949.jpg File:BARREL CACTUS IN BLOOM. HOVENWEEP NATIONAL MONUMENT - NARA - 544891.jpg File:ERODED SANDSTONE, PART OF INDIAN RUINS DATING FROM 1100 TO 1300 A.D - NARA - 544907.jpg File:ZOME HOUSE USING SOLAR HEATING BUILT NEAR CORRALES, NEW MEXICO. THE MODULAR INTERCONNECTED UNITS ARE HEXAGON SHAPED... - NARA - 555306.jpg

Books

* ''Conservation Photography Handbook: How to Save the World One Photo at a Time'', Amherst Media, 2016 * ''Serengeti: The Ethernal Beginning'', Fulcrum Publishing, 2011 * ''Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia'', Sierra Club, 1995 * ''The African Elephant: The Last Days of Eden'' Voyageur Press, 1991 * ''The Mountain Gorilla'', Voyageur Press, 1990 * ''Divided Twins: Alaska and Siberia'', Viking Studio, 1988 * ''Alaska: Wilderness Frontier'', Reader's Digest Press, 1977 * ''Rivers of the Rockies'', Rand McNally, 1975 * ''The Grand Tetons'', Viking, 1974 * ''Snake Wilderness'', Sierra Club, 1972

References

External links

*
International League of Conservation PhotographersNorth American Nature Photographers Association

The Day I Blew Up A Nuclear Reactor
by Boyd Norton on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Boyd Living people American nature photographers American landscape photographers 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers American environmentalists 1936 births