Peter Lik facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Peter Lik
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| Born | 1959 (age 65–66) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Years active | 1984–present |
Peter Lik (born 1959) is a famous Australian photographer. He is well-known for his amazing nature and panoramic landscape pictures. He even had his own TV show called From the Edge with Peter Lik on The Weather Channel.
Contents
Early Life
Peter Lik was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1959. His parents came to Australia from Czechoslovakia after World War II.
He took his very first photo when he was just 8 years old. His parents gave him a Kodak Brownie camera for his birthday. He used it to photograph a spider web in his family's garden.
As he grew up, Peter always took his camera on family trips. He loved taking pictures of the countryside and the ocean. He continued this hobby on road trips into the wild parts of Australia. Peter taught himself how to be a photographer, mostly by trying things out and learning from his mistakes.
Photography Career
In 1984, Peter Lik traveled to the United States for a year. While in Alaska, he discovered special panoramic cameras. These cameras take very wide pictures. He also learned about large format photography, which uses big film to capture lots of detail.
When he returned to Australia, he kept experimenting with panoramic photos. In 1989, he went back to the United States. He started a big project to photograph landscapes in all 50 states! These photos were later put into a book called Spirit of America in 2003.
In the early 1990s, Peter worked for the tourism department in Queensland, Australia. He traveled through the Outback, taking pictures of places few people had seen. In 1994, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Since then, he has published many books, postcards, and calendars of his beautiful work. His first book, Australia: Images of a Timeless Land, came out in 1997. In 2010, he released a huge book called 25th Anniversary Big Book, which had over 500 images from his career.
Famous Photos and Exhibitions
In December 2010, Peter Lik reported selling a photograph called "One" for $1 million to a private collector. He took this photo on the banks of the Androscoggin River in New Hampshire.
His photo "Ghost" won an award in 2010. It was taken in Antelope Canyon, Arizona. This picture was shown at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. in 2011. The photo shows sunlight shining through a hole in a canyon, making a "ghostly" glow. Another photo, "Inner Peace", also won an award in 2011 and was displayed at the Smithsonian.
In December 2014, Peter Lik claimed to have sold a photograph called "Phantom" for $6.5 million. If true, this would be one of the highest prices ever paid for a photograph.
Television Show
Peter Lik hosted a TV show called From the Edge with Peter Lik. It started on The Weather Channel in March 2011 and ran for one season. The show followed Peter as he traveled across the United States. He searched for and photographed amazing landscapes. He visited places like the volcanoes of Hawaii, the mountains of Montana, Arizona's Grand Canyon, and Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. This was the first original show for The Weather Channel.
Photography Style
Peter Lik is most famous for his wide, panoramic photos. His prints are known for being very large and having excellent quality. He often uses a special Linhof 617 Technorama camera with Fuji film for his panoramas. He also uses digital cameras like Phase One and Nikon.
He prints most of his photos on FujiFlex paper. This special paper makes the pictures glow and helps the colors look very bright and vibrant.
Awards and Recognition
Peter Lik has received many awards and honors for his photography:
- Master of Photography, Australian Institute of Professional Photography, 2002
- Master of Photography, Professional Photographers of America, 2010
- British Institute of Professional Photography Fellow, 2010
- Royal Photographic Society Fellow, 2010
- Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Award – Art in Nature Winner, "Ghost at Antelope Canyon", 2010
- Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Award – Plant Life Winner, "Japanese Maple", 2011
- American Aperture Awards, Best Landscape/Seascape/Nature, 2013
