The Condé Nast TRAVELER Magazine on its May issue has looked for the magic hidden in one of my Persian Gulf images, specifically a shot taken in Oman, to seduce its readers with a challenge. Discovering the location of this site from the magazine section: Where You Are?
Thanks to the calls to bring back the Eurasian lynx to its territory in England one of my images has become the cover of BBC Wildlife magazine in its April 2012 issue.
Illustrating a story on the reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx , the largest of the four species in the world. Initiative motivated by the success that similar projects of restoration have reached in Europe. Although this initiatives are contributing to restore ecosystems to their original state in England it is raising conflicting opinions.
Respect for nature and sustainable development are the tenets of the Agenda Viva Magazine. Publication edited by Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente Foundation every season of the year. Starring in the cover of his spring issue are the attentive eyes of a tropical frog of one of my pictures.
Its pages lead environmental issues and science aspects. Linking from the original perspective of Gross National Hapiness (GNH) which introduces the honorary consul of Bhutan, to the humble lesson for the human being of the astronomer David Galadi-Enriquez to other views of the financial crisis.
Meanwhile the magazine turns out projects, ideas and activities which the foundation is part with its effort to contribute to the improvement of rural life. Furthermore they are mainstays in its laudable effort to maintain and disseminate Spanish biodiversity.
The Pyrenees in their Lleida section are home of one the most spectacular mountain scenery: the Aigüestortes and Sant Maurici lake National Park. Its lakes, forests and sharp peaks show a very photogenic beauty any time of year which gives me reasons to cross their paths over and again.
The magazine Paisajes desde el tren in it issue of July 2011 included some of my pictures in the article 'Aigüestortes and Lake San Mauricio, the heart of the Pyrenees'. Journalistic work in collaboration with the photographers Jorge Sierra and Quim Farrero and the journalist Use Lahoz. The story has been awarded by the Tourist Board of Lleida on its 23rd Edition of the Pica d'Estats Awards.
The trees, members of a extended family of fighters against climate change, are an essential part of the straightforward world of a nature photographer. Even more for me they integrate my personal geography. I can not imagine my closer landscape without the presence of a forest and the rich biodiversity that hides.
So when I was asked to contribute to this book I felt a breath of fresh air. Getting ready the selection of my images lots of pictures of forests around the world passed before my eyes. Again I could feel that the interests of man, whatever our culture is, can only be sustainable through a close link and complicity with the world's forests. Edited by TF Editors.
An artistic option for the natural light is the thread which connects the images of the photographers members of the collective Portfolio Natural included in the book 'Natura, a Creative Vision of Nature' which has received a great reception in the media. One of my images published in the book has been selected to illustrate the new of the book edition in the December issue of the french magazine Terre Sauvage.
The Gipuzkoa coastline in the Basque Country is home of one of the most fascinating geological landscapes Juan Carlos Muñoz remarks about the cliffs of Zumaia's flysch. An impressive coastline of rocks emerging as blades on the shore for kilometres. The Earth’s history has been recorded over them from 50 millions years ago. Making it one of the best known geological features and therefore an unique stone book for those who know to read it as Eva van den Berg, author of the text, says.
I've always loved the skyline I got in the country paths. Walking geographies looking for landscapes under unique lights, to capture the rich history that has impacted them. But without losing sight of the wild, among the most secret plants and animals which create its exclusive nature.
Therefore participate in the book Natural Paths in Spain sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine has been for me an excellent opportunity to follow these old Iberian routes which, awakening the emotional side, approach us to live our natural landscapes.
Nature and lights have inspired the book Natura Regards Creatifs sur la Nature made by the photographers association Portfolio Natural which Juan Carlos Muñoz is a member. Their photographic styles and different thematic focus make up an exceptional collection of wild moments. The large format of the book and the careful editing done with great print quality promises a good enjoy watching pictures which emanate beautiful sensations from a great artistic view.
An exhibition of relevant images of the publication will open its doors for the 15th Festival of Wildlife and Nature Photography to be held at Montier-en-Der (France) between 17 and 20 November 2011. Oryx bookshop
GEO Magazine France in its June issue has published a photo of Juan Carlos Muñoz of the spectacular lights of the Aurora Borealis. He went in search of Iceland auroras, the best place in Europe to photograph them, because of the biggest solar flare that occurred in recent years intensified this fascinating natural phenomenon.
The book of homage guided by Félix’s own words and with the enthusiastic cooperation of his daughter, Odile Rodriguez de la Fuente, in the texts, reviews the work of this great Spanish naturalist and his legacy to make us part of the sensitivity and respect for the natural world, which Félix championed. Emotional images from the family archive provide background for the texts, as well as those images taken during television filming, which reflect the naturalist’s extensive work and his passion for nature.
“Together with the photographers Jorge Sierra, Francisco Márquez and Andoni Canela we have supported this journey in graphical terms with our photographs through space and time in nature which is the message transmitted by Félix. Marcelle Parmentier, his widow and president of the Félix Rodriguez de la Fuente Foundation, declares that the images are beautiful. However, I humbly believe that they are only the refection of the natural beauty which surrounds us, combined with that stamp of Félix which has marked our love for nature in one way or another,” remarks Juan Carlos Muñoz. His large scale images which illustrate the pages of the book are concentrated in the chapter ‘Alaska and other frozen landscapes’ a cold, white land which is one of Juan Carlos’s favourite destinations.
There are nature phenomena which leave no trace behind. It may be this ephemeral character, so unique in time, which catches the attention of a nature photographer such as Juan Carlos Muñoz. The spectacular displays of lights which make up the Aurora Borealis is a natural spectacle within the grasp of very few. This is due, not only to its appearance, caused by the earth’s magnetic fields, but to the fact it occurs only in the Polar Regions. So it is that, after going beyond 60 degrees of latitude north, Juan Carlos was confronted with this extraordinary spectacle. A photographic challenge which had an exceptional ally, the sun. Given the enormous explosions which the great star experienced in February combined with the freezing winter temperatures and the clear skies of Iceland.
As a photographer committed to the conservation of the environment and a member of the International Environment Photographers Association (IEPA), I am participating in the Photographic Exhibition on World Environment which is taking place in Niigata, Japan.
The earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan on the 11th of March, causing fatalities in parts of the country, have only delayed its inauguration by a few weeks.
From the 23rd of March visitors who come to the exhibition in the wake of the dreadful days after the catastrophe, can view the diversity of world nature, through 111 photographic images from 37 different countries.
Apart from their admirable attitude to the tragedy, Japanese citizens have given the event a warm welcome, as much during the opening ceremony, as at the exhibition, which though photographs highlights the immense relevance of world nature conservation, especially after the enormous natural disaster in Japan. The exhibition will travel to other cities over the next few months and will be accompanied by various environmental awareness raising activities.
It looks like an impressionist painting or perhaps an autumnal moment in an oak forest on Mount Gorbeia. However it is the middle of winter and these colourist brush strokes are two and a half million bullfinches which unusually are spending the winter in Spanish territory. This little bird left Scandinavian shores like every year to avoid the rigours of a northern winter. But exceptionally, it did not stop in its usual central European wintering places. The harshness of the climate caused it to travel further south and crossing the Pyrenees they stopped in the oak and beech forests of this area between Alava and Biscay. The abundance of beechnuts and the gentle climate cause them to return every evening like a cloud to decorate the oak trees of this natural park with their soft orange, black and white hues, and here they spend the night. An exceptional event of nature which I made the pages of publications such as ‘Le Figaro’ in France, the ‘Stern’ magazine in Germany and the ‘Semanal XL’ magazine of the Vocento group in Spain.
I have always been fascinated by photographing volcanoes and the landscapes which result from their lava strewn fury. For that reason, after the first week of the Eujafjallajökull volcano erupting, I didn’t hesitate when the Icelandic meteorological office predicted a window of clement weather and I caught a flight to Iceland. It was midnight when I landed, but knowing that the Icelandic weather is very changeable, I set out for the volcano directly from the airport, given that nobody could be certain about the duration of this surprising volcano’s active phase. Efforts to get there were magnificently rewarded: the satisfaction of being within a hundred metres of the eruption.
‘Hello Spain!’ is the title chosen by the dynamic Kiosque Mayenne, organiser of a wide range of cultural activities in the French region of le Pays de Mayenne, for the 9th edition of the Lézarde Nomade festival, dedicated to the cultural wealth and diversity of Spain.
On being invited to contribute my vision of nature, I have opted to show the secrets of the Iberian landscapes and the most exclusive and wildest of our main ecosystems.
Enthusiasm, essence and passion for nature are the terms of reference which for the last 15 years have framed this festival where films and photographs from all over the world come together in the peaceful city of Namur, in Belgium. Not only the most immediate environment, but also the most distant or the most beautiful, is fitted into its various exhibition spaces, so as to create awareness of our environment, as well as showing the most extraordinary sights of our natural surroundings.
For one of them, the beautiful church of St. Jacques, the natural landscapes of Spanish nature and their most emblematic inhabitants have been chosen. It is my attempt to provide a glimpse of Spanish wildlife and at the same time, to contribute an artistic vision which draws visitors closer to the natural spirit of our planet.
People think that snowfalls are as delicate as the landscapes which they gradually submit to their white covering. But until you have attempted to make headway through it, you don’t appreciate the true dimension of this natural phenomenon which is so fascinating for photographers.
As winter advanced, it held half of Europe hostage under its thick cover. The airports of England were closing one by one when I decided to take a flight to Wales. It was not a whim but a photographic challenge. I thought it was the right moment to undertake one of my missions within the ‘Wild Wonders of Europe’ European project. The directors of the project encouraged me in this, because it would be a means of taking photographs of the red kite, an iconic European bird of prey, in a unique environment in its Welsh territory.
We were not mistaken in our belief and in spite of the difficulties to get there and the technical complications of capturing the images, the rewards were photographs in which I could combine the majestic flight of the red kites with the impact of the falling snow.
It is Spain which contains the greatest biodiversity of fauna within the continent of Europe. For this reason, I have chosen some twenty iconic species of Southern European nature to exhibit them, under the title ‘Wild Spain’ in the International Photography Festival of Nature and Fauna, which for the last twelve years has been held on the third weekend of November in Montier-en-Der. This is a town located in the Champagne-Ardenne region next to the Der-Chantecoq laguna, where the common cranes of Northern Europe congregate at this time of year in tens of thousands. But just now, it is the festival and the various events which take place during its run where all the interest is centred, given that it is a great chance for French and central European fans of nature and fauna photography to enjoy this type of photography to the full. This year Jim Brandemburg is the guest of honour, while among the French guests Vincent Munier is the best known. Among the foreign photographers whom we will be exhibiting are images by Stefano Unterthiner.
I am Juan Carlos Muñoz, a nature photographer interested in wildlife and in those authentic landscapes where it shelters and which make nature such an exciting place. Even whilst having such natural wealth beside us, it often stays hidden from general attention whether through ignorance or forgetfulness.
For this reason, I didn’t hesitate when the Swedish photographer Staffan Widstrand, general director of an embryonic ‘Wild Wonders of Europe’ project, invited me to be part of an idea of love and passion to share European biodiversity with our neighbours.
In this respect, along with sixty- nine other European photographers, I would have to use photography, my best expressive tool, and thus capture nature in its pure form. We will unite our conservation and dissemination efforts, faced with this common heritage which is the nature of Europe. Because it is easier to love and be involved in caring for something that you know. Often we have more awareness of remote species and landscapes than the nature we have at our own front door.
On the 8th of May, Europe Day, this project was launched – a project which seeks to reach all types of audiences through the creative and unusual photographs which we take of European nature and which will be disseminated through all means of communication, open air exhibitions and various audiovisual media and publications.
© 2012 Juan Carlos Muñoz • All rights reserved
