June 8, 2009

Carnegie Museum of Natural History Hosts
DOUBLEXPOSURE: Photographing Global Climate Change
June 16–September 13, 2009

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Pittsburgh, PA…From June 16 through September 13, 2009, Carnegie Museum of Natural History presents DOUBLEXPOSURE: Photographing Global Climate Change on view in the museum’s R.P. Simmons Family Gallery Foyer. Through high-resolution photographs, this exhibition inspires the viewer to consider the effects of climate change on some of the most magnificent regions on Earth.

The exhibition showcases 14 historic and modern-day images taken by legendary mountaineer Bradford Washburn and Boston Globe writer and photographer David Arnold. These arresting fine-art photographs document one aspect of the warming climate by comparing two photographs taken at the same angle, vantage point, and elevation, though decades apart. To demonstrate the many challenges and opportunities associated with global climate change, Washburn’s and Arnold’s photographs are accompanied with text panels created by global warming expert, Gabriela Romanow.

While the gap between Washburn and Arnold’s photography is more than 70 years, the panoramas of Alaska and Switzerland reveal the shifting glacial landscapes. For example, in Blackstone Bay, Alaskan winters are 10 degrees warmer now than in 1937, with more moisture in the air, more snow, and glaciers melting at a faster rate than snow falling. In Washburn’s 1937 photograph the edges of all five glaciers touch Blackstone Bay. Compared to Arnold’s 2007 photograph, glaciers that once lapped at Blackstone Bay have retreated or narrowed where they met at the bay.

The pairs of photographs visually reveal, repeatedly, the evidence of melting glaciers, and at a rate that will surprise and astonish visitors.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is ranked as one of the top five natural history museums in the country. It maintains, preserves, and interprets an extraordinary collection of 21 million objects and scientific specimens used to broaden understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity. More information is available by calling 412.622.3131 or from the Web site, www.CarnegieMNH.org.