About Nature Photographer Kevin Ebi
> Biography: A lifelong passion for nature


> Artist Statement: The meaning behind Living Wilderness


> Exhibition History: Selected solo and group exhibits


> Media Coverage: Selected coverage of the artist

 
Kevin Ebi Biography
Kevin Ebi fell in love with nature early in life. It took him many more years to discover his passion for photography. 

Growing up, Kevin went on many outings with his parents to Pacific Northwest parks. As an adult, he began carrying a camera on hikes so that he could show others what he saw. Over time, he discovered that the patience and keen observation that photography demanded helped him to appreciate nature even more. 

Kevin established what soon became Living Wilderness Nature Photography in 2000. Since then, two of his images have been featured on U.S. Postal Service “Forever” stamps. His image of a rainbow over Haleakala was featured on a stamp in 2016 to celebrate the centennial of the U.S. National Park Service. In 2018, his image of the northern lights over the North Cascades in Washington state was featured on a stamp illustrating the lyrics to “America, The Beautiful.” 

Fine-art prints of his images are in numerous public and private collections. Notable public collections include Mount Rainier National Park; City of Seattle, Washington; Andrews Air Force Base, Bethesda, Maryland; Pierce County, Washington; and the Foss Waterway Museum, Tacoma, Washington. Private collectors are located throughout the U.S. and Canada, Europe and Australia. 

Kevin’s publishing credits include National Geographic, BBC Earth, National Wildlife, Smithsonian, Outdoor Photographer, and Lonely Planet.  

Kevin has written several of his own books blending his photography with his nature essays. These books include Our Land, which documents lands protected by the U.S. National Park Service; In For The Night, which illustrates the nightly roosting activities of 16,000 crows; and Living Wilderness, which is a collection of his art images from wilderness areas worldwide. He also wrote and illustrated Year of the Eagle, which tells the story of a year in the lives of bald eagles. He is an in-demand public speaker, talking to several thousand people about wildlife and environmental conservation, including serving as the keynote speaker for the 2018 Puget Sound Bird Fest in Edmonds, Washington, near Seattle. 

In 2017, when more than two dozen U.S. national monuments were threatened with losing their status, Kevin led "Land Almost Lost," an effort of 10 leading nature photographers to show the beauty that was at risk. Their free e-book attracted national media attention and prompted more than 20,000 public comments to save the monuments.

His image of a bald eagle that stole a rabbit from a young fox was highlighted on network television and featured in newspapers from Austria to Australia. That image was also honored by the Audubon Society as one of the best images in 2019 and named by CNN as one of the Pictures of the Year. 


Artist Statement
My vision for my nature photography was set decades before I even owned a camera. And I got a camera years before I became a photographer. 

The earliest seeds of the vision were planted on May 18, 1980. I was in kindergarten, growing up on a small farm in Puyallup, Washington, about an hour north of Mount St. Helens. I remember intently watching the surging ash column tower over the hillside as the volcano erupted on that Sunday morning. 

As dramatic as that was, the regular trips my family made to Mount St. Helens after it stopped rumbling made an even bigger impression on me. Those visits gave me a benchmark to measure changes in nature, similar to the way that parents chart their children’s growth with pencil marks on the kitchen wall. 

In our earliest trips, the view was completely gray — the land, the water, the air. Ash coated everything, reducing what had been a vibrant, pristine wilderness to a scene more resembling a black-and-white television show.
  
But just as the mountain’s perfect cone hadn’t been permanent, neither was the barren, monochrome post-eruption landscape. Over time, the ash was carried away by rain, melting snow and tourists. It took years, but the rivers once again flowed in color. 

While the change has been dramatic at Mount St. Helens, all of nature is dynamic and change is everywhere. A meadow of wildflowers isn’t the same two summers in a row. A waterfall can produce blinding mist one month and be dry the next. The Grand Canyon is at least one grain deeper than it was when you began reading this essay. 

Earth is as alive as we are — and my work is crafted to celebrate this Living Wilderness. 


Selected Exhibits
2023. 87th Midyear. Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Group. (Juried.)

2023. Renewal. Postmark Center for the Arts, Auburn, Washington. Group. (Juried.)

2022. Edmonds Arts Festival, Gallery Arts, Edmonds, Washington. Group. (Juried: 2 pieces selected, first prize in photography category.)

2019-2021. Audubon Photography Awards. Traveling. Group. (Juried.) 

2017. Designed Environment. G2 Gallery, Venice, California. Group. (Juried.) 

2016-2017. 100 Years of National Parks. G2 Gallery, Venice, California. Group. (Juried: 10 pieces selected.) 

2016. In For the Night. Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon. (Juried: 10-image series in Pacific Northwest Viewing Drawers.)

2016. Earth Month Los Angeles. El Tranquilo Gallery, Los Angeles, California. Group. (Invited.) 

2014. Wilderness at 50. Crary Art Museum, Warren, Pennsylvania. One of 11 nature photographers invited for a landmark exhibit to honor the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Wilderness Act in the hometown of the man who championed it. 

2014. Year of the Eagle. Sprint Gallery, White Salmon, Washington. Solo exhibit. 

2013. Wild About Nature. Sprint Gallery, White Salmon, Washington. Group. (Invited.) 

2011. Running in Circles. Muse Art Gallery, Centralia, Washington. Solo exhibit. 

2004. Life in the Arboretum. Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, Washington. Group. (Juried.)

2002. Washington Landscapes. Ladro, Seattle, Washington. Solo exhibit.

© Copyright 2000-2023 Kevin Ebi/Living Wilderness Nature Photography. Do not use images without permission.