@franslanting

Photos by @FransLanting Only one week to go! On June 18th we will celebrate the 15th anniversary of our LIFE Symphony with @PhilipGlassMusic, with a live performance in Santa Cruz. LIFE celebrates the unity and the diversity of all life on Earth, from the Big Bang to the present. For this occasion we have added many new images to the score because life is always evolving. Prior to the show, leading scientists from UC Santa Cruz, Natalie Batalha, Gary Griggs, David Haussler, and Paul Koch will discuss questions about life on earth. Come join us if you can. Check the link in my bio for how to get tickets and follow us @FransLanting and @ChristineEckstrom to see more wonders of the natural world. @Santa.Cruz.Symphony #LIFEsymphony #SantaCruz #evolution #Wonder #Earth #nature #symphony #livemusic

Photo by @FransLanting Today we honor World Oceans Day and recognize that everyone is dependent on the health of our oceans, no matter whether you are an albatross or a human being. Follow us @FransLanting and @ChristineEckstrom for more posts about the wonders of our living planet. #WorldOceansDay #conservation #nature #naturelovers #Albatross #Antarctica #SouthernOcean

Photo by @FransLanting On World Environment Day, June 5, we recognize that the survival of big cats in central Asia depends on people who care. The Persian leopard, just like the Asiatic cheetah is on the brink of extinction. Yet in Iran where I made this rare photo of a leopard, seven cheetah conservationists have been jailed unjustly for more than four years now. Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Taher Ghadirian, Sam Rajabi, Houman Jowkar and Morad Tahbaz deserve to be freed to pave the way for new international cooperation efforts that will benefit big cats and people alike. Please spread the word and follow us @FransLanting and @ChristineEckstrom for more stories from the frontlines of conservation. #anyhopefornature #FreeIranianConservationists #OnlyOneEarth #WorldEnvironmentDay #NiloufarBayani #SamRadjabi #MoradTahbaz #HoumanJowkar #SepidehKashani #AmirHosseinKhaleghi #TaherGhadirian

Photo by @FransLanting I am sharing this image in honor of Earth Day. It shows quiver trees against a rocky hillside illuminated by the setting sun in a South African desert. These remarkable succulent trees are a symbol of the resilience of nature because they have evolved to cope with harsh conditions. But now they are also a symbol of a changing Earth because they are hit hard by climate change. This is one of the key images in our LIFE symphony, which features the music of Philip Glass and the imagery of Frans Lanting. LIFE celebrates the splendor of life on Earth and its miraculous evolution from the Big Bang to the present. In honor of Earth Day, we’re announcing a new performance of this multimedia experience. On June 18, 2022, the Santa Cruz Symphony will perform LIFE under the baton of Maestro Daniel Stewart in Santa Cruz, California. For more information about tickets and the LIFE Symphony, go to the link in my bio. #EarthDay2022 #InvestInOurPlanet #MakeEveryDayEarthDay #resilience #nature #conservation

I am so grateful to the @washingtonpost for their beautiful coverage of our @vital.impacts initiative for humanitarian aid. Click on the link in my profile to see the gallery, and explore some of the featured work here. Make these @vital.impacts prints yours & help those in need of humanitarian aid. 100% of profits will be donated to @directrelief who are on the ground now in Ukraine and around the world. This is a way to support humanitarian efforts and have a unique opportunity to purchase some of the most memorable fine art prints from the world's leading photographers. Photos: @franslanting: Blooming orange and red wildflower Orchids. @iantehphotography: Children swimming and diving in the lido by the beach in St. Malo. @amivitale: Manisha and Jasmin Singh pause in the Baoli, an ancient step well in a village near the city of Jaipur outside of India’s Thar desert. @james_balog: Matterhorn at Dawn, Zermatt, Switzerland, 1993. @habjouqa: Ahed Tamimi, renowned Palestinian activist, in nature a short walk from her home and in the ruins of an archeological site. She was arrested for 8 months at age sixteen. @vincentjmusi: Cowboy Hat, Route 66, Seligman, Arizona. @evgenia_arbugaeva: Princess of Tundra. @sissebrimberg: Man walking along the levee on the Arno River, Florence, Italy. @norbert_rosing_photography: Polar bear mother with twins resting, one cub enjoying to stretch between her legs, the other squeezing in behind its sibling. Thank you to @cansoninfinity for donating the paper for this and to @paperandinkstudio and @theprintspace for your exquisite fine art printing. #war #conflict #ukraine #solidarity #vitalimpacts

Photo by @FransLanting In the midst of the tragedy in Ukraine, the plight of our unjustly imprisoned friends in Iran has not gotten a lot of attention recently, but we need to raise our voices for them. Since January 2018, a group of dedicated Iranian conservationists have been in prison in Tehran, wrongly accused of using wildlife camera traps for espionage. People around the world, including Jane Goodall, have pleaded for their release. Recently one of them, Morad Tahbaz, was supposed to be released from prison, along with two other British-Iranian nationals, but at the last moment, he was sent back to prison. Morad went on a hunger strike to protest this latest injustice. I’m sharing this with you to keep Morad and his colleagues, who are also still in prison, in your hearts. And please do whatever you can to ask for their release. #FreeMorad @FreeMorad1 @hope4nature @anyhopefornature #MoradTahbaz

Photo by @FransLanting Discovered! Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous ship, Endurance, has just been found on the ocean floor off Antarctica. His ill-fated 1914-1916 expedition is one of the greatest exploration epics of all time—but the work of expedition photographer Frank Hurley deserves a similar place in history. After the Endurance was crushed by ice and sank, the entire crew ended up stranded on remote Elephant Island with no hope of rescue. Hurley had saved a small pocket camera and captured the pivotal moment when Shackleton and five men set off in a sloop for South Georgia—800 miles away. Eighty years later, I commissioned new prints of Hurley’s classic images to pay homage to his work before I set off on an assignment to Antarctica. We made an unplanned landing at the exact spot where Shackleton had departed. I found Hurley’s vantage point and captured fellow passengers from the cruise ship as they struggled back to their zodiac, with Hurley’s famous photo in the foreground and the same landmarks in the background. Some things change and others do not. Go to the link in my bio to read my full story. #endurance #shackleton #Antarctica #discovery #photography #adventure #FrankHurley

Photo by @FransLanting The whole world is watching as the people of Ukraine show us what unity and courage look like. We stand with them. #ukraine #solidarity #togetherwearestronger #standwithukraine #stopthewar

By @FransLanting Tap your screen to hear the music! More tickets have just become available for the performance of our LIFE Symphony with Philip Glass in Liege, Belgium this Saturday January 29 in the gorgeous theatre of the Salle Philharmonique. The LIFE Symphony celebrates life on Earth from the Big Bang to the present. It is an immersive experience that combines the visual and performing arts. Check the link in my bio for ticket info or go to https://tinyurl.com/life-oprl. For more info about LIFE and to see clips from a concert go here https://tinyurl.com/life-symphony. And if you can’t attend, stay tuned. LIFE will come back to California this summer. @PhilipGlassMusic @ChristineEckstrom @orchestrephilharoyaldeliege #LIFEsymphony #Evolution #Wonder #Earth #nature

Photo by Chris Johns Dear Friends, I’d like to invite you to join me and many other National Geographic photographers for a special, free, online event. On Tuesday, Jan 11 @ 12 PM EST, The Photo Society is giving its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award to Chris Johns. Chris was the Editor in Chief at National Geographic Magazine where he steered the careers of many photographers including mine. Before he became editor, he had a distinguished career as a photographer. During this event you will be able to hear him talk about his work and see some amazing images. To register, check the link in @thephotosociety 's bio.

Photos by @FransLanting Within one day, we lost two of the greatest individuals involved in the protection of biodiversity on Planet Earth. Thomas E. Lovejoy III and E.O. Wilson passed away on December 25 and 26, respectively. Tom Lovejoy introduced the term biological diversity back in 1980 and Ed Wilson popularized the shortened version, “biodiversity," through his numerous publications. During his long and distinguished career, Ed changed how we think about nature in numerous ways, from his contributions to the field of sociobiology to his articulation of the concept of “biophilia” (the love of nature). His embrace of the idea of “Half Earth” became a rallying cry for protecting 50% of the Earth, including the oceans, by 2050. This is now becoming a policy goal for many governments and institutions. Tom Lovejoy pioneered the innovative debt-for-nature swap programs and embedded science within the World Wildlife Fund, giving the organization a big boost with his vision and energy. He was hugely influential behind the scenes as a senior advisor at the World Bank and the United Nations Foundation. What Ed and Tom shared and reinforced in me was a sense of wonder about our living planet and a concern for its future. Ed never stopped thinking about how the natural world worked and Tom never stopped influencing policies to safeguard biodiversity. I will miss both of them greatly but cherish the lessons I learned from them. Their legacies will live on in the actions all of us take to make our planet more sustainable for every living thing. Follow us @FransLanting and @ChristineEckstrom as we pay tribute to nature and the efforts of people to preserve it. @thehalfearthproject #UnitedNationsFoundation @world_wildlife @conservationorg @WildNetOrg @ThePhotoSociety #Biodiversity #ClimateChange #Nature #Conservation #Earth #Gratitude #Wisdom

Dear Friends, May the wonders of nature inspire you as we go into a new year, Warmest regards to all of you and your loved ones, Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom Photo by @FransLanting