        
|
|
SEASONS OF LIFE AND LAND: ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGENOVEMBER 1, 2003-SEPTEMBER 6, 2004  Aurora borealis© Subhankar BanerjeeSeasons of Life and Land: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an exhibition of more than 40 large-format color photographs by Subhankar Banerjee, opens November 1, 2003, in the IMAX® Gallery at the American Museum of Natural History. Banerjee, a nature photographer, spent two years in Alaska documenting the biodiversity and indigenous cultures of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a place of stark beauty and rich ecological diversity, ranging from austere mountains to fertile plains. On view through September 6, 2004, this exhibition features extraordinarily beautiful photographs that focus on the interdependent relationships among the refuge's land, water, wildlife, and humanity.  Double rainbow© Subhankar BanerjeeBanerjee spent two years traveling through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which covers 19.8 million acres of the remote northeast corner of Alaska, exploring and capturing on film the region's unique natural features. His photographic journey, undertaken by foot, raft, kayak, and snowmobile, encompassed 4,000 miles and focused in particular on the coastal plain, the biological heart of the refuge. This area, which in some places is less than 20 miles wide, offers an abundance of vegetation and provides an essential breeding habitat for numerous mammal and bird species: every spring and summer, millions of birds migrate there from as far away as China, the Antarctic, Africa, and Chile.  Musk oxen & midnight sun© Subhankar BanerjeeSeasons of Life and Land is divided into seven sections: winter, spring, summer, fall, the Inupiat people, the Gwich’in Athapascan people, and the Aurora Borealis. Among the highlights are photographs of the magnificent McCall Glacier, polar bears, a rainbow over the autumn tundra, and a profusion of summer wildflowers along the Kongakut River. The exhibition also highlights the cultures of the Inupiat and Gwich’in Athapascan peoples who have lived for centuries in this forbidding environment. Born in India, Subhankar Banjeree obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering before moving to the United States where he received a master's degree in physics and computer science from New Mexico State University. After working as a research and computational scientist for six years, Banjeree became a photographer full-time. He has received the Special Achievement Award from the Sierra Club and the Alaska Conservation Foundation Daniel Housberg Wilderness Image award for his work on the Arctic Refuge.  Buff-breasted sandpiper© Subhankar BanerjeeEleanor Sterling, Director of the Museum's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, is curating the installation of Seasons of Life and Land: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge at the Museum. The photographs in this exhibition were taken from Subhankar Banerjee's book, Seasons of Life and Land, which is on sale in the Museum Shop for $22.95. This work has been generously funded by The Wilderness Society and the Alaska Wilderness League. |
