A peculiar species lives out there in the wild; it’s best known as the “adventure photographer.” Rob Story is a Telluride resident and member of a counter species, the “adventure writer.” In his work for magazines—such as Skiing, Outside, Men’s Journal and Rolling Stone—Story has closely observed the adventure photographer in its natural habitat and will recount his observations in a talk and slideshow.

As Story says, “To travel with an adventure photographer is to encounter pissed-off green card wives, America-hating rental-car Nazis, skiers huffing joints in Red Square, poignant memories, expired dairy products, slap fights with lesbians in Canadian strip clubs, sublime beauty, Swiss military hospitals, heart-pounding adrenaline, Alaskan helicopter rescues, minor breaking and entering, Jamaican cowboys, masturbating mechanical monkeys, European snow dirtied with Saharan sand, prima donna surfers, ill-timed earthquakes, randy Newfoundlanders and much, much more. I have found the adventure photographer comes in all shapes and sizes. Some talk too much, some move too slow, and too many die too young. They are, however, all united by the circuitous pursuit of the perfect image.”

Story will also pay tribute to one photographer who died way too young, the late, great Telluride photographer TR Youngstrom (whose work will be exhibited at Honga’s Lotus Petal during the festival).
- David Holbrooke