GEORGE STEINMETZ

TREES Artist, 2011

Best known for his exploration photography, George Steinmetz sets out to discover the few remaining secrets in our world today: remote deserts, obscure cultures, the mysteries of science and technology. A regular contributor to National Geographic and GEO magazines, he has explored subjects ranging from the remotest stretches of Arabia’s Empty Quarter to the unknown tree people of Irian Jaya.

Steinmetz has completed 18 major photo essays for National Geographic and 25 stories for GEO magazine in Germany. His expeditions to the Sahara and Gobi deserts have been featured in separate National Geographic Explorer programs. In 2006, he was awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to document the work of scientists in the Dry Valleys and volcanoes of Antarctica.

Steinmetz has received numerous awards for photography during his 25-year career, including two first prizes in science and technology from World Press Photo. He has awards and citations from Pictures of the Year, Overseas Press Club and Life’s Alfred Eisenstadt Awards.

Born in Beverly Hills in 1957, Steinmetz graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Geophysics. He began his career in photography after hitchhiking through Africa for 28 months. His current passion is photographing the world’s deserts while piloting a motorized paraglider. This experimental aircraft enables him to capture unique images of the world, inaccessible by traditional aircraft and most other modes of transportation.