Chasing Ice engages you into it's mesmerising facts
Photographer James Barog headed to the arctic in the spring of 2005 on one of his most adventurous assignments to date; capturing images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. He set about trekking across the arctic using time-lapse cameras to record the effects with extreme results.
The central themes of this doc
The film is centred around environmental photographer James Balog, who is a hard working, passionate guy; his commitment to documenting the effects of climate change is truly admirable. Director Jeff Orlowski allows Barog’s personality to shine through the film’s narrative. His passion for the project engages you into the mesmerising facts that stare you in the face.
For us, the sheer scale of the glaciers is difficult to comprehend. Some as tall as skyscrapers and as big as Manhattan, the photographs truly capture the efforts Balog and his team endure to reveal the effects of global warming. The natural formations in Balog’s photos are, as he puts it, “insanely, ridiculously beautiful.” This humble quote sums up Orlowski’s film. The staggering images, although testament to the harm being done to the earth’s sea levels, are something of genuine beauty and something none of us will ever see up close.
why you shoud learn from chasing ice
Chasing Ice’s sharp mixture of documentary storytelling and landscape photography works very well. Criticism of man’s role in climate change doesn’t drag the film down like a dead weight as in similar documentaries. It wins the battle against both climate change sceptics and those who ignore its relevance; the images are strong enough to attract and convince both sets of people.
Super storm Sandy opened a lot of people’s eyes and its only now that we are beginning to realise that climate change is a real concern. The release of Chasing Ice in 2013 seemed particularly timely. The before and after imagery of Balog’s project speaks for itself. The power and strange beauty of these photographs slaps you in the face, instantly gaining your attention. Chasing Ice is powerful and a must see film, one of the best documentaries of recent years.
