I am a storyteller who uses a camera.

As a result of 9/11, we in the U.S. are living in a state of fear,

I am South African by birth, but because of my father's job, our family traveled a lot. While living in places like Africa and Australia, we visited indigenous peoples. From the beginning, I carried a camera to document the beauty and wonder of these far-flung countries. I also realized many of these cultures were faced with issues I could not ignore. I understood at a very early age, things were not like they were represented in travel magazines.

Ansel taught a workshop in Yosemite which I happened to attend. We talked. He suggested I come work for him after I finished school. Ansel was then in his 80s. I was his photographic assistant until his death in 1984, after which I worked with his friend Mary Alinder on Ansel's biography. The entire experience was very much a privilege.

During my lecture, we will look at evidence of tectonic shifts of the plates and talk about the consequences. We will go on a journey that begins in New Guinea where subcultures are being impacted by oil, timber and technology, all the stresses of a global economy. Although people are being forced out of the Garden of Eden, most are handling the transition from the Stone Age to modernity very well.

I think there is something very magical about Telluride and Mountainfilm. Both offer a fine balance among the physical, intellectual and spiritual worlds. The first time we visited, we were struck by the power of the landscape and this amazing gathering. We need to take a moment now and then to trade stories about what it really means to be a human being. Mountainfilm provides the platform for such exchanges.