Stephen Gorman

Benjamin Franklin Award winning photographer and best-selling book author Stephen Gorman's work focuses on understanding the connections between nature and humanity: how we depend on the ecosystems around us to sustain our material and spiritual lives, how we adapt to and modify the landscapes in which we live and work, and how our ideas of nature shape our relationships with the world around us.

Stephen holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Studies from Yale University, where he focused on the human dimensions of natural resource management; and a Bachelor's Degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University, where he focused on American environmental history and the history of the North American Frontier.

Working in the tradition of American artist-explorers such as George Catlin, Frederic Church, Thomas Moran, William Bradford, Albert Bierstadt, and William Henry Jackson, Stephen sets off into the outback for days, weeks and sometimes even months at a time, searching for striking images of the natural world and the men and women who live and work upon the land. To portray the spirit of these special people and places, he uses his sharply honed photography, writing, interpersonal, and wilderness travel skills, journeying deep into remote regions, returning from each expedition with photographs that can only be created in our planet’s last truly wild and historic landscapes. His most recent expedition in the summer and fall of 2015 Stephen led a 350 mile-long wilderness canoe expedition in arctic Alaska photographing for an upcoming exhibit on the subarctic boreal forest - the world's largest and most intact ecosystem- at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

In the summer of 2016, Stephen will be co-leading an expedition for the Smithsonian Institution exhibit on the boreal forest. This journey combining art, science, exploration, and discovery will be a long-distance canoe expedition down a major free-flowing river through the world's largest wilderness ecosystem across the taiga to James Bay in Canada's subarctic.

Stephen's powerful connection to his subject matter results in the most evocative images. According to The Washington Times "the result is always the same: a masterful, some might even say seductive, introduction to his chosen destination."

Bestselling novelist and nature writer Rick Bass says, "Steve Gorman's photographs come as close as is possible, other than actually being in the woods, to giving us glimpses, tastes, odors, sounds, and touches of the spirit and being of these places."

Bestselling author Dan Brown says, "Steve Gorman is a true American visionary. His masterful images offer tantalizing clues into the nature of our national character and our capricious relationship to the natural world. His work deftly inscribes our beliefs, our dreams, and our American story in an accessible and eye-opening way."

Audubon Magazine editor-in-chief Lisa Gosselin agrees, saying, "Stephen Gorman is an explorer who delves into the natural and social histories of the lands he visits, uncovering the soul of wilderness that drew our first pioneers and reinforcing the ethic of conservation that has kept America wild."

Stephen is the author and photographer of many books, including The American Wilderness: Journeys into Distant and Historic Landscapes; Thoreau's New England; Wild New England; Northeastern Wilds: Journeys of Discovery in the Northern Forest, which was a finalist for the IPPY Award in 2003; and Arctic Visions: Encounters at the Top of the World, which was commissioned by the Inuit of Nunavik, Canada and which won the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Award. He has been featured on the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) and NBC, and he and has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio (NPR) programs about his books and humans and the environment.

Stephen has written and photographed a dozen books on traditional wilderness survival skills. Throughout his career he has worked on cultural and environmental assignments for leading periodicals such as Discovery Channel Online, Sports Illustrated, Men’s Journal, Sierra, Audubon, Outside, Backpacker, The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, The Washington Times Magazine, Ski, Skiing, Powder, Wildlife Conservation, The Boston Phoenix, Down East, Canoe & Kayak, and many others. He has served as a member of the editorial boards of Appalachia and AMC Outdoors, and he has been a Contributing Editor and a Field Editor for both Sports Afield Magazine and Summit Magazine, which also featured his monthly column Mountaincraft. Stephen lives in Vermont with his wife Mary and their dog Josie.

www.stephengorman.com

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AWARD WINNER

Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award at BookExpo in New York City in 2011, Arctic Visions was commissioned by the Makivik Corporation, which represents the Inuit of Nunavik, Canada. Makivik's mandate is to promote and preserve Inuit culture in northern communities. Arctic Visions showcases the land, sea, wildlife, and people of their beautiful homeland.

 “This gorgeous, full color collection of images and poetic descriptions of the beauty of the land, sea, wildlife, and people near the top of the world in the Canadian Arctic is stupendous. Photographer and author Stephen Gorman has truly captured the majesty and drama of the land's apex predators, the polar bear; the monumental mountains of Baffin Island; Inuit villages; the Aurora borealis; and the vast expanse between the sky and the sea. Arctic Visions - Encounters at the Top of the World is a photographic winner that perfectly captures this beautiful land.” - IBPA Judge at BookExpo New York.

Published in 1999 by Rizzoli-Universe and featuring a foreword by America’s preeminent science writer David Quammen, The American Wilderness made best-seller lists nationally and in Great Britain in both hard and soft cover formats.

"Stephen Gorman's work is not only about the value and splendor of our landscape, it is also a journey of discovery of broader human ties to the land and its relation to our physical and mental well being."         - Stephen R. Kellert, Professor of Social Ecology, Yale University, and author (with E.O.Wilson) of The Biophilia Hypothesis

Finalist for the IPPY Award at BookExpo in Los Angeles in 2003 and featuring a foreword by bestselling novelist and nature writer Rick Bass, Northeastern Wilds presented the Appalachian Mountain Club’s stance on protection of the 26 million acre Great Northern Forest of New York and New England. The book earned letters of praise from Senator Hillary Clinton of New York; Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire; Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont; and Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine.

"In any real wilderness, it is always wise to choose a good guide. Steve Gorman makes a fine guide through the beauties and conflicts of the northeastern wilderness. This book adds an important voice to the growing chorus howling for the protection of our precious American wilderness." - Jeff Rennicke, National Geographic Traveler

Published by the University Press of New England in 2007, Thoreau’s New England is a selection of the wit and wisdom of Henry David Thoreau paired with the color photographs of Stephen Gorman. Thoreau’s New England was made into a video by the cutting-edge Portland, Oregon clothing company Nau and featured on the company’s website.

"A book for all seasons, Thoreau's New England, depicts an adventurer's New England, from gray frozen peaks to silvered ponds to aquamarine waves washing over blue-tinged sand under an azure sky. The quotations range from a spare sentence to a fat paragraph, nothing too heavy, but always something to make you think, especially when paired with one of Gorman's colorful photographs. He pairs "Give me a Wildness whose glance no civilization can endure..." with a sunset over a pond the sky so many shades of pink, orange and yellow, the trees so dark, the pond so red, it'll take your breath away." - Concord Monitor
 

Published by Voyageur Press in 2006, Wild New England is Stephen Gorman’s personal tribute to his home region.

"True to its title, Wild New England, its 200-odd photos include scarcely any signs of humans or human habitation, and very few creatures of any kind. Just page after page of the kinds of woodsy, watery, snowy, rocky, leafy scenes we yearn to escape into - and can, thanks to this book, at a moment's notice." - Providence Journal

The world's most popular book on winter wilderness travel by one of the world's foremost experts has been in print continuously since 1991 - an unprecedented achievement for a title in this genre. The Winter Camping Handbook has sold tens of thousands of copies and is considered the best source of information on winter wilderness travel skills ever written. Originally published as The AMC Guide to Winter Camping by the Appalachian Mountain Club, the book is now published by W.W. Norton. The 4th edition was just released in the fall of 2016. 

“Most people think of winter as a season of limits, but to wilderness enthusiasts, it's a season of possibilities. Cold and snow work better than any backcountry permit system to keep wild areas wild, and remoteness begins just out of earshot of the nearest road. If you've grown frustrated jostling for solitude at your favorite alpine lake in summer, try skiing there in winter. Chances are it'll be all yours. Learn how to tackle adventurous winter trips with The Winter Camping Handbook by Stephen Gorman.” 
- Sierra Magazine