Incredible "Chasing Ice" Project Shows Challenges Of Shooting 3-Year Timelapses

In 2005 Photographer James Balog began a project of immense scale and historical importance; to capture the changing climate of the earth by shooting images of melting glaciers. The documentary "Chasing Ice" tells his story, and shows the technical challenges he faced, like dealing with harsh temperatures and highly remote locations. This trailer gives us a sneak peek of the final movie, which will be released in November.

There are a limited number of screenings at the moment, including many major cities, but if you'd like to suggest they visit your town, let them know here.

Here is the synopsis of the film, as written on the Chasing Ice website:

Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.

Mike Wilkinson's picture

Mike Wilkinson is an award-winning video director with his company Wilkinson Visual, currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Mike has been working in production for over 10 years as a shooter, editor, and producer. His passion lies in outdoor adventures, documentary filmmaking, photography, and locally-sourced food and beer.

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6 Comments

Looks incredible!

Absolutely beautiful!

Real photography, whatever the domain is, is about that kind of passion. I respect them for their work and I'm sad 'cause I can't see it in Romania. I would pay to watch something like this.

i wanna see that

I really want to watch this, too, but I'm in Norway, so I'll be forced to wait even longer when, or if, it is released on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Don't they think their work or film will be watched or wanted, at release, in other countries? 

This kind of helps show me that climate change to an extent IS happening. How it's caused is up for debate, but such a defining event such as this would never be possible if it weren't for the people that have a passion for imaging and sharing those images, whether motion or still, to the people around them.