Presented with Stanford Publishing Courses
The Aurora Forum joins with Stanford Publishing Courses to present photographer Frans Lanting and his LIFE Project, a lyrical interpretation of the story of life on Earth that has been produced as a multimedia show for symphony orchestra with music by Philip Glass. For this evening’s photographic presentation, Lanting will be joined by his wife and partner, Christine Eckstrom, an editor, videographer, and former staff writer at National Geographic. For two decades, Frans and Chris have collaborated on fieldwork and publishing projects that have increased awareness of endangered ecological treasures.
FRANS LANTING, Photographer
For more than two decades, Frans Lanting has documented wildlife and
our relationship with nature in environments from the Amazon to
Antarctica. He portrays wild creatures as ambassadors for the
preservation of complete ecosystems, and his many publications have
increased worldwide awareness of endangered ecological treasures in far
corners of the earth. In 2006, Lanting launched The LIFE Project, a
lyrical interpretation of the history of life on Earth, as a book, an
exhibition, an interactive website, and a multimedia orchestral
performance with music by Philip Glass. Conducted by Maestra Marin
Alsop, the multimedia production of LIFE premiered in Santa Cruz,
California, in 2006 and is currently touring North America and Europe.
His books include LIFE: A Journey Through Time (2006), Jungles (2000), Penguin (1999), and Eye to Eye
(1997). His work has been commissioned frequently by the National
Geographic Society, where he served as a photographer-in-residence. A
feature on groundbreaking research with chimpanzees in Senegal appears
in the April 2008 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
http://www.lanting.com
CHRIS ECKSTROM, Writer and Videographer
Field assignments have taken Chris Eckstrom to all seven continents to
cover subjects ranging from wildlife in Zambia to a profile of Brazil's
Pantanal, the world's largest wetland. Her stories have appeared in National Geographic Magazine, Audubon, International Wildlife, National Geographic Traveler,
and other publications. She collaborated with her husband and partner,
photographer Frans Lanting, to write and edit LIFE: A Journey Through
Time (2006). Chris and Frans have worked together for two decades on
fieldwork from the Amazon to Mongolia. Recent National Geographic
assignments have taken them to the volcanoes of Hawaii, the canyonlands
of the Colorado Plateau, seabird islands in the North Pacific and the
subantarctic, and to southeast Senegal, where they documented the first
group of savanna chimpanzees to be studied by scientists. They make
their home in Santa Cruz, California where they have recently started
work on a project profiling Monterey Bay.
http://www.lanting.com/welcome.html
RICHARD STOLLEY (moderator), Journalist and Publisher
Richard Stolley has been a reporter, writer, bureau chief, editor, and
managing editor at Time, Inc. since 1953. In 1996, he was inducted into
the ASME Editors Hall of Fame, and in 1997, was awarded the Henry
Johnson Fisher Award for Lifetime Achievement in Magazine Publishing.
http://reportingcivilrights.loa.org/authors