Boyd Norton

Boyd Norton (born April 8, 1936) is an American photographer, known for his work in wilderness photography and his environmental activism. He is the photographer/author of 17 books covering topics such as from African elephants, mountain gorillas, Siberia's Lake Baikal and issues of Alaskan and Rocky Mountain conservation. He contributed photographs to the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica 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 and took a job as a nuclear scientist with the United States Atomic Energy Commission in Idaho Falls, IdahoBoyd Norton (2016), Conservation Photography Handbook, chapter 1, Amherst Media so that he could live nearby. Hells Canyon, located at the border of Oregon and Idaho, 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 Bob Packwood to introduce the establishing Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. His photographs also helped establish Jedediah Smith Wilderness next to Grand Teton National Park, 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. 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, he lobbied Russian Foreign Minister Edward Shevardnadze to gain support for the designation of Siberia's Lake Baikal as a World Heritage Site. The book with his photographs that chronicles the journey taken by Peter Matthiessen 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. 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. He was on the board of directors for the North American Nature Photography Association.http://www.nanpa.org/wp-content/uploads/Boards-of-Directors-List-for-NANPA.pdf In 2015, he received the Sierra Club's Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography.

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
Nature photographers
Landscape photographers
20th-century American photographers
21st-century American photographers
American environmentalists
1936 births