About - Mattias Klum

Mattias Klum

Artist, NatGeo Explorer, photographer and filmmaker. Professional speaker. Environmentalist.

Mattias Klum was born in Uppsala, Sweden in 1968. He has worked fulltime as a photographer since 1985, and as a cinematographer and director on numerous film and television projects since 1994. Mattias Klum is internationally recognized for describing and portraying animals, plants, and natural and cultural settings in the form of articles, books, films, lectures and exhibitions.

His artistic photographic language has rendered him success not only in the world of documentaries but also in the art scene. Mattias Klum has undertaken numerous major projects and expeditions to Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guyana, Thailand, Mozambique, South Africa, China, Iceland, Ecuador, Botswana, Panama, Mongolia, Kamerun, Tanzania, Peru, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Congo DRC, Fiji, Hawaii and Antarctica, among other locations.

International Publications

Mattias Klum’s work has been featured in many international publications, such as National Geographic, Wildlife Conservation, Audubon, Geo, BBC Wildlife, Terre Sauvage, Stern, Der Spiegel and The New York Times. In 1997 National Geographic Magazine published Mattias Klum’s photographs for the first time. That story made him one of National Geographic’s youngest contributors at the time. Since 1997, he has produced multiple articles and 13 cover stories for the reputable magazine.

Exhibitions

Klum’s photographs have been shown in one-man exhibitions at renowned museums and art galleries in the United States, Norway, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Japan, Botswana, China, Italy and Great Britain, among other countries, and at major worldwide events as COP15 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009, Shanghai World EXPO in 2010, 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium and Clinton Global Initiative, New York in 2011 and in Rio de Janeiro during the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. Most recently Mattias Klum had a retrospective show at Fotografiska, Stockholm 2020 – 2021.

Bibliography

Ögonblick (1990)

När Dimman Lättar (1992)

A Journey Through Sweden (1995)

Exploring the Rainforest (1995)

Borneo Rainforest (1997)

I Borneo’s Regnskog (1999)

Den Sköra Tråden (2000)

Horse People (2003)

Being There (2007)

Afrikas Hemlighet (2010)

The Human Quest: Prospering Within Planetary Boundaries, with Johan Rockström and with a foreword by President Bill Clinton. (2012)

Världar av Liv (2013)

Big World Small Planet – Abundance within Planetary Boundaries. With Johan Rockström (2015)

Jordnära (2017)

The Perpetual Calendar of Life with Dr. Jane Goodall (2018)

Vatten (2019)

Starfors & Molnebo: Uppländska herrgårdar med anor (2021)

Filmography

Skogens Öga (1998)

Den Sköra Tråden (2001)

Search for the Giant Sea Eagle (2001)

The Linnaeus Expedition with producer Folke Rydén (2007)

Funk For Life. Short film with renowned musician Nils Landgren. The project supports Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and their work in Kibera, Nairobi (2010)

The Testament of Tebaran (2011)

The Coral Eden (2011)

The Contemplator (2013)

De Svenska Älvarna och Vattenkraften (2014)

Soot (2014)

Vamizi – Cradle of Coral with Maryanne Culpepper (2016)

The Young Sea (2018)

“The Human Quest showcases world class photography to remind us just what is at stake. The authors demonstrate that with collective action, humankind can still bend the curves of negative environmental change toward a resilient and prosperous future— but there’s no time left to waste”

President Bill Clinton

“Through compelling science and inspiring photography Big World, Small Planet achieves the mind-shift space travellers experience when looking at Earth from space: we, humanity, need to become responsible stewards of our small planet. This book is all you need for heart and brain to be convinced of the virtue of a transformation to a world that thrives within planetary boundaries”

-Richard Branson, Virgin Group

“Our future hangs in the balance. We are inflicting grave damage on Planet Earth, and if we carry on with ‘business as usual’ we may reach the point of no return—when ecosystems collapse and more and more species become extinct. There is hope if only we can bridge the gap between the clever human brain and the compassionate human heart and act now. Johan Rockström and Mattias Klum lead the way with scientific clarity, powerful storytelling, and inspiring and award-winning photography”

-Dr. Jane Goodall

Lectures and public performances

Mattias Klum is an internationally sought-after lecturer and has given countless lectures worldwide. A selection of business customers: T llberg Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, The Royal Palace of Sweden, Prince Albert II Foundation, Apple, Volvo, DNB, IBM, The Prince’s Trust, IKEA, National Geographic Society, WWF, The Nobel Foundation, AFRY, Walt Disney Imageneering, Ermenegildo Zegna Group, Chautauqua Institution, Audi, American Express and Sweco, among others. Mattias Klum is represented by Changemaker Talent since 2021.

Awards

Over the years, he has received numerous awards and grants for his work. Uppsala City Council bestowed him with its gold medal for his outstanding work from an Uppsala base. His Majesty the King of Sweden has granted Klum with his medal of the 8th grade with blue ribbon for his important contributions as a nature photographer. The Uppsala County Administration granted him the title Citizen of the Year in Uppland. Mattias Klum was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2008. Mattias Klum was named Goodwill Ambassador for IUCN in 2011. Klum was awarded the Lidman Prize by Swedish Academy of Verbovisual Information and the Comprehensibility Price by the Swedish communication agency Publik in 2012. Klum is a member of the Board of Trustees of WWF Sweden and a Fellow of National Geographic Society, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and The Linnean Society of London. In 2013 Mattias Klum was awarded the Honorary Doctorate degree in Natural Science by Stockholm University and named ambassador for WWF, the World Wildlife Fund.

MATTIAS KLUM