The chase for wild ice is what brought Banff-based photographer Paul Zizka and professional figure skater Elladj Baldé together to make some magic.
News
As we’ve all discovered, especially in recent years, social media has transformed into something that goes well beyond simply sharing. The algorithms have hard-wired us to repackage wilderness experiences for consumption. Video became the best tool in our kit. We have been taught that to survive as a photographer, we must be “content creators,” not only capturing the scene but also what’s happening behind the scenes. I have enjoyed many parts of that process, but I don’t like the motivations behind it — reducing the creative journey to online metrics and marketability taints the process and the wilderness experience, both for the artist and the audience.
Travel, Landscapes
A photo portrait from a family trip through Romania and Bulgaria. Each country was distinctly different from the other due to different influences in their histories and modern-day trajectories. In Romania, we largely spent our time in the gorgeous Transylvania region with its Saxon-influenced architecture, folklore (you might be familiar with Dracula), and the mountainous countryside that linked our journey from town to town. In Bulgaria, we journeyed cross-country to visit more diverse parts of the country, including the mind-boggling rock formations of Belogradchick, the Medieval city of Veliko Tarnovo, the seaside resort town of Sozopol and the Madara national historical-archeological reserve.
Canadian Rockies, Portrait
Here in our mountain landscapes, there exist individuals whose passion is as big as the peaks that cradle them. These intrepid souls are artisans of altitude; their canvas is the very terrain that challenges them. Here are just a few of my favourite images from over the years.
Canadian Rockies, Cryophilia, Landscapes, News, Travel
I’ve been photographing ice since the very early stages of my career. Whether glaciers, ice caves, frozen lakes, or mountaintops, I would continuously find myself drawn to cold landscapes in search of ice in its many forms, textures, and hues. Icescapes are among the most dynamic, visually exciting, and rewarding places a photographer can document. But as I spent more time shooting ice, it became apparent that I was capturing something that is vanishing.
Travel
Rust-red roofs and sand-coloured buildings set again the azure blue of the Adriatic Seas. Quaint and historic towns that feel like a storybook in real life. Wild skies and crashing waves that keep a photographer on his toes. This, in a nutshell, was our family trip through the Western Balkans.
