Mattias Klum

Mattias Klum
Photo: Samuel Svensäter.
Born	10 February 1968
Nationality	Swedish
Occupation	Photographer and Filmmaker
Website	Official website

Mattias Klum (born 10 February 1968 in Uppsala) is a Swedish freelance photographer and film producer in natural history and cultural subjects.^[1] He is the son of Swedish academic educator Arne Klum (1925-2016) and Ingegärd Klum, née Stefanson.^[2] Klum has worked full-time as a freelance photographer since 1986, and as a cinematographer and director on numerous film and television projects since 1994. Klum describes and portrays animals, plants, and natural and cultural settings in the form of articles, books, films, lectures and exhibitions.

Klum has had several wildlife documentaries shown on Swedish national TV and has also had his work featured in Wildlife Conservation, Audubon, Geo, National Geographic,^[3] Terre Sauvage, Stern, Der Spiegel and the New York Times among others.

In 1997 National Geographic Magazine published Mattias Klum's photographs for the first time, which made him the first Swede to have his work on the cover, then he was one of National Geographic's youngest contributors. Since 1997, he has produced a number of articles and twelve cover stories for the magazine, including "Malaysia's Secret Realm" (August 1997), "Asia's Last Lions" (June 2001), "Meerkats Stand Tall" (September 2002), "What Darwin Didn't Know" (February 2009) and "The Bite That Heals" (February 2013).^[4] Klum's photographs have been exhibited in one-man shows at reputable museums and art galleries in the USA, Sweden, Malaysia, India, Japan, Great Britain, Estonia, Denmark, Botswana, Spain, China and Singapore among other countries. Klum has published twelve books, five of them available in English: Exploring the Rainforest, Borneo Rainforest, Horse People, Being There and The Human Quest.

In 2007 Klum contributed to the starting of a publishing company, Tierra Grande Publishing, the fundraising Terra Magna Foundation and Expeditionsverige.se (Expedition Sweden),^[5] a five-year-long environment and inspiration project about Sweden and the Baltic Sea Media Project^[6] together with producer Folke Rydén. He has also coached and collaborated with Sweden's Prince Carl Philip.

The book, The Human Quest: Prospering Within Planetary Boundaries,^[7] is co-authored by scientist and global sustainability expert Johan Rockström with a foreword by former President Bill Clinton.^[8]

Mattias Klum's latest book ”Världar av Liv” was published in 2013 by Max Ström. In 2013 Klum has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in Natural Science by Stockholm University^[9] and named WWF, the World Wildlife Fund ambassador.^[10]

Bibliography

• Moments^[11] 1990
• When the mist rises^[12] 1992
• A Journey through Sweden^[13] 1995
• Exploring the Rainforest^[14] 1995
• Borneo Rainforest^[15] 1997
• Inside Borneo^[16] 1999
• The Brittle Thread^[17] 2000
• Horse People^[18] 2003
• Being There^[19] 2007
• The Secret of Africa^[20] 2010
• The Human Quest: Prospering Within Planetary Boundaries^[21] 2012
• Världar av Liv^[22] 2013
• Big World Small Planet^[23] 2015

Filmography

• Borneo's Rainforest
• The Brittle Thread
• Search for the Sea Eagle^[24]
• The Linnaeus Expedition^[25]
• Music video project Funk for Life^[26]
• The Testament of Tebaran^[27]
• The Coral Eden^[28]
• The Contemplator^[29][30]
• Vamizi - Cradle of Coral ^[31]

Klum has produced documentary films including Borneo's Rainforest and The Brittle Thread (Asia's Last Lions) with his former wife and colleague Monika Klum and The Linnaeus Expedition with producer Folke Rydén. Klum and his team have collaborated on the music video project Funk for Life,^[32] with renowned musician Nils Landgren. This project supports Médecins Sans Frontières and their work in Kibera, Kenya.

Family

Mattias Klum has two sons with his former wife Monika Klum. He is engaged to artist Iris Alexandrov since July 2016.

Awards and Act of Honour

Over the years, Mattias Klum has received numerous awards and grants for his work.

• Uppsala City Council bestowed him with its gold medal for outstanding work from an Uppsala base, 2002.
• The King of Sweden granted Klum his medal of the 8th grade with a blue ribbon for his important contributions as a wildlife photographer, 2003.
• Fellow of The Linnean Society of London, 2006.^[33]
• The Uppsala County Administration granted him the title of Citizen of the Year in Uppland, 2007.^[34]
• Appointed Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, 2008.^[35]
• Fellow of National Geographic Society, 2010.^[36]
• Senior Fellow at Stockholm Resilience Centre, 2011.^[37]
• IUCN Goodwill Ambassador, 2011.^[38]
• Iwan Bolin Prize by Stockholm's Workers Institute, 2012.^[39]
• The Lidman Prize by Swedish Academy of Verbovisual Information, 2012.^[40]
• The Comprehensibility Prize by the Swedish communication agency Publik, 2012.^[41]
• Honorary doctor in Natural Science at Stockholm University, 2013.^[42]
• WWF, World Wildlife Fund Ambassador, 2013.^[10]

Klum is also a member of the Board of Trustees of WWF Sweden.^[43] He has held a position as a Guest Lecturer at Uppsala University^[44] and teaches at Stockholm Resilience Centre.^[45] The magazine Miljöaktuellt ranked Klum as number 4 of Sweden's 100 most powerful people working for the environment 2013.^[46]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mattias Klum.

• Mattias Klum Tierra Grande
• Mattias Klum photography at National Geographic
• Mattias Klum on Facebook
• Mattias Klum on Twitter
• The Human Quest: Prospering Within Planetary Boundaries