Sep 24 2008
Bearly There: Steven Kazlowski’s “Last Polar Bear” Lecture
The Last Polar Bear --by Steven Kazlowski
Last week Steven Kazlowski, author of The Last Polar Bear, visited our store and gave a slide presentation about his latest photographic journey into the Alaskan arctic. Some images left the audience cooing (myself most definitely included) at adorable polar bear cubs playfully tugging at the ear of their mother. But, Kazlowski also showed startling maps demonstrating the growing presence of human industry in the region and the diminishing range of sea ice, which is essential to how polar bears and other animals hunt and survive the extreme environment. Kazlowski’s intimate photographs of the harsh yet stunning arctic habitat elicit an emotional response that will easily prompt viewers to think and to read about the more serious subject behind his images: the warming of the arctic that threatens the delicate ecological balance that allows the polar bears (not to mention the Inupiat people, beluga whales, walruses, and arctic foxes) to thrive.
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