About MANGELSEN - Images Of Nature Stock Agency

Thomas D. Mangelsen, a Nebraska native, is recognized as one of the world’s premier nature photographers. Mangelsen’s love of nature, his life outdoors, and business success were heavily influenced by his father. An avid sportsman, Harold Mangelsen took his sons to favorite blinds along the Platte River in Nebraska to observe the huge flocks of ducks, geese and cranes that migrate through the area. From these outings Mangelsen learned important lessons for photographing in the field, including patience, waiting for the right moment and understanding animal behavior.

In 1965, Mangelsen began studying business at the University of Nebraska. Tom transferred to Doane College in Crete, Nebraska in 1967, where his first love prevailed and he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He continued postgraduate study in zoology and wildlife biology at the University of Nebraska and Colorado State University. In 1974, he worked as a cinematographer, which led to the opportunity to film whooping cranes for the National Geographic. The resulting Emmy-nominated television special, Flight of the Whooping Crane, chronicles the plight of these endangered birds and the efforts to bring them back from the brink of extinction. In 1990, Mangelsen photographed and produced the PBS Nature and BBC Natural World film, Cranes of the Grey Wind, a documentary on the life cycle of the sandhill crane.

Initially Mangelsen was fascinated with photographing birds in flight. In the early 1970s, Tom and his brother David began selling limited edition prints of his images. In 1978, Mangelsen opened his first Images of Nature® gallery in Jackson, Wyoming. Since then, Mangelsen Images of Nature Galleries have opened across the United States.

Tom’s honors include his image Polar Dance being selected by the International League of Conservation Photographers in 2010 as one of the 40 Most Important Nature Photographs of All Time. He was chosen in 2006 as one of Dr. Jane Goodall’s Heroes of the Animal Planet and profiled in the television series of the same name. Also in 2006, he was presented with an honorary doctorate from Doane College. Additional accolades were being named one of the “100 Most Important People in Photography” in 2005 by American Photo magazine and also honored with Nikon’s “Legend Behind the Lens” recognition. He received an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society in 2002 and was named “Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year” by the North American Nature Photographer Association in 2000. In 1994, Mangelsen received the prestigious British Broadcasting Corporation’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award.

Mangelsen’s photographs were showcased in Vital Signs: Images of Biodiversity. This exhibit was a combination of Mangelsen’s art and knowledge of natural history, and stresses the importance of maintaining a balanced and diverse ecosystem. Vital Signs opened at the San Diego Natural History Museum in 1997 and was also exhibited in museums throughout the United States and Canada. Tom’s photography has been shown at the Natural History Museum in London, the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska and most recently, 2009-2010, in a major exhibit at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming.

Tom’s first book, Images of Nature: The Photographs of Thomas D. Mangelsen written by noted biologist Charles Craighead, was published in 1989 and contains more than 200 photographs that document the natural history of North America. Polar Dance: Born of the North Wind, published in 1997, was produced after photographing polar bears on the wild, western shores of Hudson Bay for ten years. Written by preeminent author Fred Bruemmer, this poetic story tracks a mother polar bear with her two cubs and a lone male through the seasons of a year. Spirit of the Rockies: The Mountain Lions of Jackson Hole, published in 2000, is the first photographic documentary of wild, free mountain lions. Author Cara Shea Blessley gives a rare inside look at these secretive animals as human development encroaches into their habitat. In 2007, Tom released his third fine art book, The Natural World, with a foreword by Jane Goodall. This book of panoramic images was the recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Coffee Table/Large Format Book in 2008 by the PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association.

Mangelsen’s work has been published in National Geographic, Life, Audubon, National Wildlife, Smithsonian, Natural History, Newsweek, Wildlife Art, American Photo and many other publications as well as featured on television programs from The Today Show and Good Morning America, to CNN’s World News and ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.

In addition, Mangelsen is co-founder of the Cougar Fund, a founding Fellow of The International League of Conservation Photographers, on the international advisory council for the Jane Goodall Institute and a board ambassador for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance.

Tom’s dedication to preserve our fragile earth is best stated in his own words; “May these images inspire you to experience and preserve the wonders of our natural world.”