Mangelsen’s photographs of polar bears in the Arctic are acclaimed for calling attention to the deepening impacts of climate change. His moody images of tigers in the jungles of India and, more recently, his work on rhinos and elephants in Africa are credited with helping to raise awareness about threats of extinction confronting these magnificent animals.
His forty most famous pictures, called the Legacy Reserve Collection, are currently traveling to museums across the country as a solo exhibition titled
A LIFE IN THE WILD. One image, featured in the national museum tour,
Catch of the Day, is hailed as one of the most wildly-recognized wildlife photographs in the modern age. Mangelsen is considered a master of capturing the perfect dramatic moment. This image portrays the exact instant a spawning salmon in Alaska leaps over rapids and into the awaiting jaws of a brown bear.
Mangelsen was profiled on the CBS News program
60 Minutes, where he told the story of making
Catch of the Day and other compositions with Anderson Cooper.