Luverne native Jim Brandenburg has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from his colleagues at the National Geographic magazine.
In a March 9 social media post, Brandenburg said he was “humbled” and “surprised” by the announcement from his peers at The Photo Society.
“I have been so very fortunate over the years to have received some precious and treasured awards around the world,” Brandenburg said. “But this one is unique for me because it is from my peers — some of the finest photographic talent in the world.”
Comprised of 200 of National Geographic’s photographers, the society’s membership requires photographers to have done serious feature assignment work for the magazine.
Only five others have received Nat Geo’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Brandenburg reached out to the Star Herald Tuesday to say he credits his upbringing in the Luverne community for his career successes.
“I feel that growing up in Luverne was a crucial part of my ability to go out in the world and do the things that brought me to this place,” he said.
“I feel so very fortunate to have come from the Rock County culture. I mention it often when doing presentations. … The old prairie farmer work ethic and the care and nurturing that I got looking back on my boyhood years stays with me.”
Growing list of accolades
The recent honor joins a long and growing list of awards and recognitions the photographer from Luverne has amassed over his professional career.
Twenty years ago he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Nature Photography Association.
In 1991 he was awarded the Global 500 Environmental World Achievement Award through the United Nations for his work with the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, Nature Conservancy and others.
In 2001 Brandenburg was named a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens and in 2002 a Hasselblad Master by the Swedish camera maker. From 2005-08 he was a Canon Explorer of Light photographer.
In 2006 Jim Brandenburg was awarded with an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, by the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
In 2009 Jim Brandenburg’s well-known image of the leaping Arctic wolf was named one of 100 most important photos in Canadian history and was included in the book, “100 Photos that Changed Canada.”
In 2010 Outdoor Photography Magazine included Brandenburg in its “40 Most Influential Nature Photographers.”
Four of Brandenburg’s images were included in The Top Forty, a collection of “40 most important nature photographs of all time,” as compiled by the International League of Conservation Photographers.
From books and magazines to film
In sharing the news about his Lifetime Achievement Award, Brandenburg last week talked about some of his current projects in the works.
“I have evolved from the magazine assignment work and have returned to moving pictures, where I started when I was in my mid-20s,” Brandenburg said.
“My first assignment for National Geographic was with the TV division 50 years ago, “Strange Creatures of the Night,” a CBS pre-cable primetime television special. My last and largest NG magazine story was in 2016, “93 Days of Spring.”
Brandenburg was unable to attend his award ceremony in Washington, D.C., in late January because he was in Europe “deeply immersed” in two movie projects that he considers the largest and most complex” of his career.
One is a feature film about his life in nature produced by a prominent Cannes award-winning production company in Paris. The other is a large screen film that he created, wrote and is producing in Italy with a Bristol, UK, film crew.
“The French film production company will feature Luverne and the Touch the Sky prairie as the place that completes the circle in my career. Coming home ... we will film the closing sequence there this late summer when the prairie is in full bloom.”
‘It takes a village’
Jim Brandenburg got his start in photography at age 14 with a $3 camera and image of a shy fox he captured in the Blue Mounds State Park. It was his first published photograph.
He graduated from Luverne High School in 1963 and studied art at the University of Minnesota, first in the Twin Cities, then in Duluth.
He was a photojournalist at the Worthington Daily Globe and then at National Geographic, where he first freelanced and then became a contract photographer in 1978.
Through all his world travels and professional accomplishments, Brandenburg never forgot his roots.
In 1999 Brandenburg and his wife, Judy, and their family and supporters established Touch the Sky Prairie in northwestern Rock County through the Brandenburg Prairie Foundation.
It’s within a mile of his home place and two miles from the place where his great-grandparents, Henry and Theresa Brandenburg, homesteaded and broke the virgin prairie sod at the turn of the century.
There are now more than 1,200 acres of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge in Touch the Sky Prairie, and the Brandenburg Gallery in Luverne sells the artist’s prints and books to support the prairie restoration.
From his home in Ely last week, the legendary nature photographer took a moment to reflect on where he’s been and how far he’s come.
“I am now back in a snowy Minnesota feeling extremely honored and a bit breathless contemplating it all,” Brandenburg said.
“I am especially appreciative and beyond grateful for all the family and friends that helped pave the way. This is not possible without that kind of support.”
He said he hesitated to thank individuals, for fear of overlooking someone, but he mentioned several who influenced him in his early years who “took me under their wings and gave me gifts that I didn't appreciate at the time like I do now.”
He mentioned Ralph Herreid, Fred Manfred, Al Winter “who provided inspiration and wisdom,” and his Aanenson and Brandenburg family that he was “lucky to be born into.”
He said he wished he was able to express gratitude that is deserved. “It certainly ‘takes a village,’” Brandenburg said.
“And, of course, how lucky was I to have met that shy girl from Hardwick in art class in the 10th grade ... Judy has been my keel and patient advisor through all these years.”