JUSTIN BLACK is a photographer, writer, editor, expedition leader, photo workshops instructor, a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Writers (ILCW), a former executive director of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), and a Fujifilm X-Photographer. For ten years at Galen Rowell’s Mountain Light Photography, and since 2011 with Visionary Wild, he has created countless inspiring and educational photographic experiences for thousands of passionate photographers. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading photo workshops organizers.
“Justin is a model of what every phototour leader should aspire to. Apart from being an excellent photographer, he was a fantastic leader, always available to help with anything, keeping everybody safe but unconstrained, and proactively ensuring that everybody was happy.”
A professional photographer since signing his first picture agency contract in 1995, Justin has also served the ILCP as Executive Director, and for ten years was with Galen Rowell’s Mountain Light Photography, serving as General Manager and Gallery Curator from April 2002 until June 2009. Justin’s photographs have been published by National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Live!, Sierra, Sunset, American Photo, Outdoor Photographer, Wild Eye, Overland Journal, Rock & Ice, and Nature Conservancy among many others. His work has also been published by major news outlets in print and online, and has been used in advertising for brands such as MasterCard, Patagonia, Nikon, Fujifilm, and ThinkTank/MindShift Gear. Numerous conservation NGOs have used his photographs in their campaigns, including World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, The Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, Panthera, Land Trust Alliance, Earth Justice, The Wilderness Society, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, ILCP, and the Wild Foundation.
In 2017, he entered the world of motion pictures as an Executive Producer on the award-winning documentary film, Headhunt Revisited: With Brush, Canvas, and Camera, produced and directed by Michele Westmorland. Justin has served as a judge for the 2015, 2017, and 2018 Nature’s Best Photography Africa competitions. He has also been an editor and contributor to numerous award-winning photo book projects, including Galen Rowell: A Retrospective; Freshwater: The Essence of Life; The Wealth of Nature: Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity, and Human Well-Being; Our National Parks: America’s Natural Heritage; as well as Flying South: A Pilot’s Inner Journey by Barbara Rowell. His limited edition fine prints are available through his portfolio website at justinblackphoto.com
An early career as a travel photographer and image licensing specialist led Justin to Mountain Light Photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, founded by Galen Rowell – a world-renowned National Geographic photographer, author, mountaineer, and explorer – and his wife and business partner, Barbara Cushman Rowell, formerly Vice-President of marketing at The North Face. Beginning in May of 1999, Justin managed marketing of the Rowell image collection, assisted Galen on assignments and in his workshop program, and taught seminars on nature photography. In April 2002, the Rowells invited Justin to relocate with them as Mountain Light’s General Manager to Bishop, California, in the spectacular Owens Valley. Justin eagerly embraced his new responsibility, along with the sublime Eastern Sierra Nevada landscape as his new home. Just four months later, however, Galen and Barbara perished in the crash of a chartered plane, leaving behind a tremendous creative and visionary vacuum. Justin went to work, building on the impressive Rowell legacy to reinvigorate Mountain Light by establishing a seasonal series of guest photographer exhibitions, expanding the image collection, and relaunching the highly acclaimed photo workshop program through collaboration with many of Galen’s leading professional peers. In May 2008, Justin’s efforts were recognized by both Sunset and American Photo magazines, as each magazine featured editorial recommendations of his workshop program at Mountain Light.
After ten years in California, Justin was recruited to take over the position of Executive Director at ILCP, a not-for-profit association of the best photographers worldwide working in the fields of environmental and cultural conservation. At ILCP, Justin oversaw an explosion of productivity in expeditions, publishing, multimedia production, and the achievement of successful conservation outcomes. He contributed photographic coverage to ILCP’s Rapid Assessment Visual Expeditions (RAVE) program, including Flathead Valley (Canada, 2009), Yucatán (Mexico, 2009), and Chesapeake (USA, 2010), as well as a solo project for The Nature Conservancy, documenting the Dragon Run wetland on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. One of Justin’s photographs from the Flathead River project was selected to be a section opener in the Vancouver Sun newspaper – the first time the threatened watershed received significant coverage in that nationally important media outlet. The photograph was later selected by the United States Senate for display in the U.S. Capitol Building, as Canada and the USA reached an agreement to protect the Flathead.
Justin left his position at ILCP in late 2010 to establish Visionary Wild, building on his successful leadership of the Mountain Light workshop program and applying expertise gained at ILCP to provide superlative workshops and expeditions for passionate photographers seeking to advance to the next level of creativity, quality, purpose, and meaning in their work. His own work continues to evolve in new directions, driven by the ongoing search for extraordinary qualities in our world’s dynamic landscapes.
JUSTIN’S CAMERA BAG After using an array of 4×5, medium format, and 35mm film cameras in the first two decades of his career, Justin fully embraced digital cameras in 2010. Since 2017, he has photographed by personal preference exclusively with Fujifilm GFX medium format and X-Series mirrorless systems, and GF and XF lenses. Really Right Stuff tripods and ball heads, as well as the Arca-Swiss D4 geared head. His camera backpacks of choice are made by MindShift Gear, and he prefers optical neutral density and polarizing filters by Singh-Ray.
