Award-winning photographs by two of the world's top polar region photographers, Pat and Rosemarie Keough, will be on display at the University of Colorado at Boulder from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31.
The traveling exhibit, "Antarctica - Passion and Obsession," illustrates the extreme landscape of the world's 7th continent and is composed of more than 70 images from the Keoughs' acclaimed book "Antarctica," which won 11 international gold honors.
"Antarctica - Passion and Obsession" is free and open to the public and will be housed in the HotSpot Gallery on the first floor of Norlin Library. The exhibit will be open during normal library hours from 8 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays and noon to midnight on Sundays. The book "Antarctica" is available for viewing in Norlin Library's Special Collections.
The Keoughs' work, which captures the rare beauty of Antarctica's mountains, glaciers and wildlife, is the result of two austral summers spent on the Antarctic continent.
In a statement about their photography experience the Keoughs said, "We keenly felt the immensity of Antarctica and also a certain vulnerability. . . Antarctica is a harsh land of extremes . . . and of superlatives. It is the coldest and the windiest of the seven continents, as well as the most isolated.
"Antarctica is the highest of all continents with an average elevation over triple that of North America. Antarctica is also a desert; and although it is the driest of continents, Antarctica's great polar ice cap smothers nearly the entire landscape locking 70 percent of the world's freshwater in ice and snow. . . . Our photographs, many of which we composed together using one camera on one tripod, reflect our shared emotional response to what could easily be construed as overwhelming stimulus."
The exhibit has been brought to the CU-Boulder campus in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the CU-NOAA Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES. CIRES is the oldest and largest of the NOAA cooperative institutes and one of two in Colorado.
"We are delighted to be able to share the Keough's stunning photographs of Antarctica with the public," said CIRES director Konrad Steffen, an expert on Greenland and climate change. "Several CIRES scientists conduct research in Antarctica, and many of us also study the effects of global climate change in the polar regions."
Cryospheric and Polar Processes is one of six formal research divisions at CIRES. Other research at CIRES spans atmospheric chemistry, weather and climate connections, ecosystem science and geophysical science. In all, the institute employs more than 500 researchers, staff and students.
For more information about "Antarctica - Passion and Obsession," please visit cires.colorado.edu/news.