Integrating Art+Science.

Founded in 2007 by James Balog, the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) is an innovative, long-term photography program that integrates art and science to give a “visual voice” to the planet’s changing ecosystems. We believe that the creative integration of art and science can shape public perception and inspire action more effectively than either art or science can do alone.

EIS maintains an extensive portfolio of over one million single-frame photos celebrating the art and architecture of ice. We have 27 Nikon cameras watching over glaciers in Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Austria, and the Rocky Mountains. Our cameras record changes in the glaciers every hour, year-round during daylight, and yield approximately 8,000 frames per camera per year. We combine these images into stunning time-lapse videos that reveal how quickly climate change is transforming large regions of our planet. Our pictorial archive serves as a visual legacy and provides a baseline—useful in years, decades and even centuries to come—for revealing how climate change and other human activity is dramatically impacting the planet.

EIS is a program of Earth Vision Institute (EVI). Visit the EVI Events page to track our traveling exhibition “ICE: Portraits of Vanishing Glaciers” and watch and share our videos with your community. It is our work to share the ‘voice’ of the glaciers with you; if you are moved and inspired by what the glaciers have to say, please use your voice and share it.

Multimedia Presentations and Exhibitions

James Balog has given multimedia presentations about the project at TED and at dozens of major institutions including the White House, the U.S. Congress, NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, Apple, Qualcomm, Cornell University, and Duke University. His work is in dozens of public and private art collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Corcoran Gallery, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Denver Art Museum, and the Gilman Paper Company.

Visit the EVI Events page to learn more about about booking James Balog for your event and about our touring exhibition “ICE: Portraits of Vanishing Glaciers.”

Explore the work of the Extreme Ice Survey in the time-lapse videos below: