Outdoor photographer Jimmy Chin was awarded the inaugural Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure by the Rowell Legacy Committee at a ceremony in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 4. The Rowell Award honors that adventurer whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places of the world, and whose accomplishments significantly benefit both the environment and the people who inhabit these lands and regions. The Rowell Award celebrates the accomplishments of famed adventurers and photographers Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a plane crash in 2002. In Jimmy Chin’s absence (he is currently climbing Annapurna), his sister Grace accepted the award on his behalf.
In “giving back”, Jimmy’s photography work has assisted in the protection of the rare chiru antelope in Tibet. He is a member of the Outdoor Industry Conservation Alliance and the Advisory Board for the Rowell Fund for Tibet, overseen by the International Campaign for Tibet. Jimmy has also been involved with the Central Asia Institute in Pakistan and the Khumbu Climbing School in Nepal.
Chin’s recent assignments include climbing the world’s tallest freestanding sandstone towers in Mali, Africa and climbing Mt. Everest in 2004 with David Breashears and Ed Viesturs, while shooting the documentary video and production stills for a feature Universal Studios film. Along with Conrad Anker and Rick Ridgeway, Jimmy was a member of Galen Rowell’s last expedition that traversed the Chang Tang plateau in Tibet in 2002.
Jimmy’s creative eye behind the lens and attention to detail have won him accolades from commercial and editorial clients including National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, Climbing , Outside and ESPN magazines as well as The North Face and Patagonia.
This $15,000 annual cash award was established by The Rowell Legacy Committee, which is composed of family members, friends, business associates and admirers of the late Barbara and Galen Rowell. Its hope is that Galen and Barbara’s work and the award will serve to inspire in others the love of the human experience in the environment and the desire to protect the wild and special places on our planet. For more information on the award, see, The Rowell Award. For information on the Rowell Fund for Tibet, see, Rowell Fund for Tibet.