The photo exhibition “Origins” opens Friday in a new Bridgeport location of the commercial gallery Hilton Asmus Contemporary, with photographs by Paul Nicklen and partner Cristina Mittermeier. The couple is known for photos of travel and the natural world, and both are frequent contributors to National Geographic magazine.
Many of the photos in the show — those of huskies, penguins, a baby seal pup, a polar bear — could be described as highly engaging. Nicklen even allows that they are “cute,” speaking recently from his home on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. He and Mittermeier were packing for their next trip; in a typical, nonpandemic year they spend as much as 11 months on the road.
The pictures in the exhibition are some of theirs that were not used in the magazine. Speaking of his own methods, Nicklen says his mission is journalism when taking pictures for National Geographic, such as documenting the natural world, the effects of climate change and the need for conservation.
Nicklen and Mittermeier also are co-founders of the ocean conservancy organization Sea Legacy (sealegacy.org) and are involved in the climate activism nonprofit and online platform Only One (only.one).
The journalism, “that’s one side of it, but my style is, I’m also a very artistic shooter,” he said. As for the furry pictures, “My goal is to get people to look into the soul of these animals.”
Encounters in nature can get up close and personal. An image titled “Face to Face” was taken in 2007 while Nicklen was on assignment for a National Geographic story about the effects of climate change on Svalbard, Norway. He and a local guide were hunkering down in their cabin during a winter storm when a female polar bear came up to investigate. Nicklen opened the window and got the photo, supplementing the low indoor light with the glow of a laptop screen.
To get viewers’ attentions, “and to wake up to the ‘now'” of the natural world, he said, sometimes pictures can show doom and gloom — and sometimes they can invite people in by being pretty, or cute, and be a picture they’ll want to buy a copy of and hang on their wall.
“Origins” opens at 5 p.m. Friday at Hilton Asmus Contemporary in the Morgan Arts Complex, 3622 S. Morgan St.; https://hilton-asmus.com
dgeorge@chicagotribune.com