Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land

National Geographic Adventure, March 2003
"…arguably the most comprehensive—and potentially politically influential—visual choice of the Refuge"


Audubon magazine, June 2003
"…an evocative and inspiring plea to preserve the jewel of the system against recurrent attempts to ravage its coastal plain…"


Dandelion, May 2003
"...reminder of just how much can be lost so quickly should even small amounts of oil resources be extracted."


Planet Jackson Hole, May 2003
"[this book] should offer those who see the Arctic refuge as a barren wasteland a chance to have second thoughts"


Washington Post, May 23, 2003
"Banerjee's photographs are gorgeous...his images of the porcupine caribous, musk oxen, ptarmigans, moose and capitate louseworts...are striking."


Vanity Fair, December 2003
"Banerjee's landscapes seem epic... his photographs have an authenticity, a gravitas, and a beauty that more rote imagery is without."


NEWSDAY book review, May 18, 2003
"... this book is an eye-opening treasure."


San Francisco Chronicle, February 22, 2004
"These images are sharply at odds with the notion...that the refuge is a frozen, lifeless place."


The Explorers Journal
This book should be required reading of every senator, congressman, and president.


E Magazine
Banerjee['s]...exquisite photos allow the voices of plants, animals, and indigenous people to be heard.


Book Description
It is a land of pristine wilderness, pulsing with life even in the depths of white subzero winter. Entirely unscarred by roads or signs, it is the place in all Alaska where the polar bear most often prefers to den. It is host to more than 180 resident and migratory bird species that journey from six continents and all fifty states to nest and rear their young. Because of the massive herds of Porcupine caribou who converge upon the coastal plain to calve each spring, it is known as "the American Serengeti." To the Gwich'in people, who call the refuge their home, it is "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins." The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a touchstone for all people, one of the few remaining ecosystems on our planet unaltered by human impact, where true wilderness can still be experienced. But now the refuge is showing signs of global warming: immense McCall Glacier, measured to have lost more than thirty feet in depth in the last forty years; the northward march of the dwarf willow, moving at a pace not seen in 8,000 years; the alarming decline of the muskox, forced to forage where their calves are vulnerable to predators. And the refuge is further threatened by oil development, which would forever unravel the delicate pattern of nature found here. Award-winning photographer Subhankar Banerjee devoted two years of his life to documenting the land, its wild species, and its Native peoples. With Inupiat guide Robert Thompson, Banerjee traveled 4,000 miles through the refuge on foot and by raft, kayak, and snowmobile during all four seasons. With more than 200 breathtaking color images, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land makes this case: leaving the refuge intact in all its mysterious beauty is vital to the survival of this unique ecosystem. Banerjee's photos are paired with six essays and a foreword by former president Jimmy Carter.


From the Inside Flap
It is a land of pristine wilderness, pulsing with life even in the depths of white subzero winter. Entirely unscarred by roads or signs, it is the place in all Alaska where the polar bear most often prefers to den. It is host to more than 180 resident and migratory bird species that journey from six continents and all fifty states to nest and rear their young. Because of the massive herds of Porcupine caribou who converge upon the coastal plain to calve each spring, it is known as "the American Serengeti." To the Gwich’in people, who call the refuge their home, it is "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins." The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a touchstone for all people, one of the few remaining ecosystems on our planet unaltered by human impact, where true wilderness can still be experienced. But now the refuge is showing signs of global warming: immense McCall Glacier, measured to have lost more than thirty feet in depth in the last forty years; the northward march of the dwarf willow, moving at a pace not seen in 8,000 years; the alarming decline of the muskox, forced to forage where their calves are vulnerable to predators. And the refuge is further threatened by oil development, which would forever unravel the delicate pattern of nature found here. Award-winning photographer SUBHANKAR BANERJEE devoted two years of his life to documenting the land, its wild species, and its Native peoples. With Inupiat guide Robert Thompson, Banerjee traveled 4,000 miles through the refuge on foot and by raft, kayak, and snowmobile during all four seasons. With more than 200 breathtaking color images, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land makes this case: Leaving the refuge intact in all its mysterious beauty is vital to the survival of this unique ecosystem. Banerjee’s photos are paired with six essays and a foreword by former president JIMMY CARTER. In his essay, PETER MATTHIESSEN paints in living color the glorious profundity of life encountered on an expedition at the refuge. FRAN MAUER examines the full range of Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems found here. WILLIAM MEADOWS recounts the Wilderness Society’s role in creating the refuge and helping to protect it for over forty years. DEBBIE MILLER profiles native Gwich’in and Inupiat families, by choice tied to the land for survival despite the pressures they face. GEORGE SCHALLER recounts the first expedition that led to the creation of the refuge. DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY experiences the wonder of the Arctic coastal plain aflutter with nesting birds from all six continents. Each comes to the same conclusion: The refuge is an abundant and critical habitat that would be irreversibly destroyed if exploited for oil.


About the Author
Subhankar Banerjee is an award-winning photographer and conservationist. Solo exhibits of Banerjee's photographs from Seasons of Life and Land are on display in 2003 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and in a group exhibit at the Natural History Museum in London. Banerjee's photographs have appeared in numerous national magazines and he has lectured on the diversity of the Arctic Refuge to venues including The Explorers Club, National Arts Club and the Smithsonian.


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