What: National Geographic Live: Into the Arctic Kingdom
Where: Royal Theatre
When: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $32.50-$44.50 from , by phone at 250-386-6121, or in person at the Royal McPherson box office
With two major research projects running concurrently 鈥� one on whales and marine ecosystems in Mexico鈥檚 Baja California Peninsula, the other on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska 鈥� Florian Schulz is not lacking in adventure.
In fact, the wildlife photographer spends eight or nine months of the year in the field, with his wife, Emil Herrera-Schulz, and two trilingual sons, Nanuk and Silvan, ages three and seven, joining him whenever possible.
鈥淏ecause of the nature of my work, I didn鈥檛 see them before,鈥� said Schulz, explaining why he decided to set up permanent residences in Mexico, Germany and Alaska. 鈥淏ut now they move with me. They are used to immersing themselves in new places.鈥�
Schulz will accept an award for photographer of the year this weekend in Las Vegas, home to the annual North American Nature Photography Association gala. He will accompany his presentation, National Geographic Live: Into the Arctic Kingdom, to Victoria just days later. (Schulz didn鈥檛 enter the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition now on display at the Royal B.C. Museum.)
As someone who makes his living peering through a camera lens, the tour that brings him to 91原创 Island on Wednesday should provide him with an opportunity to rest and relax.
Or so one would think. Seeing the world with the naked eye is not Schulz鈥檚 strong suit, it seems. 鈥淢y wife has been saying: 鈥榃e need to take a vacation鈥� for years now,鈥� he said with a laugh. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 so hard for me to think about the idea of going somewhere where I would actually have the time to not bring a camera. I always want to be in the field. I always want to photograph.鈥�
Born and raised in Weingarten, Germany, not far from the Swiss Alps, Schulz began tinkering with cameras when he was 11. Now 43, he never lost his wide-eyed interest in nature, and uses his persistent need to discover as the fuel for his many adventures.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a job. It鈥檚 an obsession, a total passion. The only reason I can do it is by dedicating everything to it.鈥�
Schulz has become well-known in photographic and conservationist circles for his work covering the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for National Geographic. Over his years documenting the area, he has seen dramatic changes to the environment, from melting permafrost to shifts in the distribution of the Arctic ocean ice. 鈥淚 see it in the coastlines, where plastic is washing up in a lot more places,鈥� he said.
He touches on these environmental shifts during his Into the Arctic Kingdom presentation, even though he would rather focus his energy on the inherent beauty of the area. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to depress people. But I don鈥檛 want to close my eyes to these issues, either.鈥�
Inspired by the books of Jack London and other adventure writers, Schulz headed to North America to get his photographic fix. He was just 16 when he made the journey to Alberta, for a backpacking trek through Jasper and Banff.
鈥淣orth America has lured me forever. You still have the big, open landscapes that we have lost across Europe. While we have incredible histories with cities 鈥� there are ancient castles over 1,000 years old near where I was born 鈥� I was drawn to the natural history of North America. We have lost that across Europe, and you still have it.鈥�
Schulz travelled to Victoria once before, during a promotional tour for his 2015 book, Wild Edge: Freedom to Roam the 91原创 Coast, which he wrote with his wife. He is close friends with Victoria鈥檚 Ian McAllister, a fellow conservationist and film director whose IMAX debut, Great Bear Rainforest: Land of the Spirit Bear, opened last week at Victoria鈥檚 IMAX theatre. 鈥淚 saw it in Toronto, but I鈥檓 definitely going to see it again next week. Your Imax theatre is one of the best in the world.鈥�
He is constantly inspired, as McAllister was prior to filming Great Bear Rainforest, by landscapes and the animals that inhabit them. Schulz said his job is to get an image that captures the animal and its environs at the most natural junction possible. 鈥淭here are a number of things that need to fall into place, but if you don鈥檛 have that concept of it ahead of time, you鈥檒l never capture it,鈥� he said.
One of Schulz鈥檚 greatest professional achievements was photographing a massive polar bear feeding on a fin whale carcass in Norway, near the Holmiabreen Glacier. It required him to be instinctive, to anticipate when and where its feeding habits would take the polar bear.
鈥淥ften you anticipate moments, and orchestrate the image in your mind and use your experience over the years to capture that in the most powerful way.鈥�
