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Up Close and Dangerous
Behind the Camera

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Adam Ravetch
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Ravetch's five Arctic films, produced by his company Arctic Bear Productions for National Geographic and Nature, are rare gems dramatizing the beauty and terror of the North. They have collected awards from around the globe, including an Emmy; the Gold World Medal at the New York Festival; the Gold Palmes D'or at the 28th Festival Mondial de l'Image Sous-Marine in Antibes, France, which was awarded by President Jacques Chirac; the "Animal Behavior" category at the Japanese Wildlife Film Festival; a finalist in the "Animal Behavior" category at Wildscreen; and awards at the Jackson Hole and Missoula festivals.

In addition to his films, Ravetch is a sought-after freelance cameraman. He has worked with the top wildlife producers in the world, including National Geographic, BBC, NHK and Discovery. He has filmed at both poles, and logged 45 expeditions to the North and over 1,000 dives in the tropics.

Ravetch's career spans from the Red Sea to Micronesia but it is the polar sea that has captured his imagination. Whether experiencing the beauty under the domed cathedral of ice or the pain of minus 45-degree wind chill on his hands, Adam is most rewarded when he can yank a great picture from the grips of the Arctic. Ravetch likens filming in the North to guerrilla warfare. You have to be ready for anything; change plans on a dime; willing to live on the land for months at a time, sometimes totally alone; and be willing to eat just about anything. It’s been an unusual evolution for Ravetch, considering his origins as a Californian surfer and diver.

Born and educated in California, Ravetch received his bachelor of science in zoology from San Diego State University. At this time, scuba diving for Ravetch became a passion. He took every scuba course that was offered, and later, would even give lessons to a Middle Eastern prince. While attending California State University, Ravetch completed shark research at the Graduate School of Marine Biology. Shortly after, he received the Our World Underwater Scholarship, which enabled him to travel across North America to meet and learn from the greatest minds working in marine science.

Impatient with science, Ravetch became interested in the more physical job of underwater photography. He learned the art of motion picture filmmaking at Mako Films Ltd. in Canada. He quickly became the principal underwater cinematographer, filming over 100 episodes of The Last Frontier, an underwater adventure documentary series that took him into all the oceans of the globe.

Ravetch is a seasoned lecturer, and regularly speaks about the Arctic at the Explorers Club in New York City, Rolex Watches USA, the Nature Conservancy and on the North American scuba diving circuit. Rolex Watches has supported Ravetch for many years and released an international commercial campaign that highlighted his underwater polar work. He is also an associate laureate for the Rolex Spirit of Enterprise.

Ravetch's newest venture is the founding of the Arctic Exploration Fund, a not-for-profit endeavor designed to bring science and cinematography together to document in a photographic time capsule the most dramatic current environmental changes that are occurring in the Arctic.

When not in the Arctic, Ravetch makes his home on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia with his wife and three children and his boat.

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