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Liam Clickenger is a photographer and visual artist in San Francisco, CA. His interest in documenting life through photographs dates back to early childhood, and with camera in-hand, he's never stopped exploring. With a formal education in photography from the Academy of Art University, he continued to pursue his passion in many directions – from the bustling world of commercial advertising to abstract photographic art, and eventually returned to the Academy of Art as an instructor nearly 15 years later.
Liam has this to say about his latest body of work, "Above Alaska":
"Not only has Alaska earned a commanding reputation as North America’s last wilderness frontier, but it’s also one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen – and parts of it are disappearing.
These images are the result of my fascination with this wild wonderland, and an effort not only to document the recession of glaciers, displacement of wildlife, and changing landscape, but also to represent it in a deeply engaging way.
Experiencing Alaska from the ground in traditional ways wasn’t enough, and I took to the skies in a photo survey aircraft to get a glimpse from above. These photographs were collected over many hours of low- altitude flights in and around the Gulf of Alaska, during which I witnessed first hand the effect that climate change has had on these areas – and it was jaw-dropping.
The scale of these immense masses of ice can’t be overstated, and to see miles of bare earth where they have melted away in recent years left me awe-struck.
The select images displayed here are part of a much larger body of work intended as an immersive observation experience. By capturing them with the highest resolution possible and presenting them with the luminescence and translucency of ice, these incredible natural landscapes are recreated in the most dramatic and captivating way possible – exactly the way I remember them.
With these images, I invite you to be a part of these landscapes. It’s my intention that you feel as cold as I did after a long five hour flight, that your eyes are fixated on the depth of the rich blue waters and sparkle of the ice in the arctic sun, and that your mind is captivated by the grandeur and complexity of these disappearing natural landscapes. Please enjoy them while you can."