Sebastian Copeland (*1964) began his career shooting for »Madison Avenue« before applying his commercial photography skills to document at risk environments. Noted as a photographer »who has produced works that are of outstanding artistic merit and communicates messages of urgent global significance,« Copeland has led numerous expeditions to document the endangered Polar regions, covering more than 8.000 kilometers on skis over the ice. In 2017, Copeland was named one of the world’s top 25 adventurers of the last 25 years. Copeland uses fine art as a medium for activism. »Helping people fall in love with their world,« he says, »is a catalyst to wanting to protect it.« For more than 20 years, he has warned of systemic transformations taking place in the polar regions and their geo-economic consequences. Copeland has addressed audiences at the United Nations, the COP21 in Paris and museums, institutions, and governments globally, as well as many Fortune 500 companies, warning of the urgent need for a market transformation towards a sustainable economy. His photographs have been published in numerous books and his work has appeared in hundreds of international magazines. Copeland spent 15 years on the Board of President Mikhail Gorbachev’s environmental organization Global Green USA (the US arm of Green Cross International). He is a fellow of The Explorers Club, and member of the American Polar Society, the International Glaciology Society, and a founding member of Artists for Amazonia. His books won global awards and have sold in over 70 countries. Copeland received the 2018 Bambi in Germany in the »Our Earth« category. In 2019, French President Macron knighted Copeland in the National Order of Merit. Copeland’s works are exhibited worldwide and are part of numerous renowned collections.

Sebastian Copeland was honoured with the International Photography Award, Tokyo International Foto Award for Best Photographer (2020/21) and 2024 Photographer of the Year (IPA). His new book »The Arctic: A Darker Shade of White« was published by Rizzoli in 2024.