Mediaplanet caught up with the award-winning mountain landscape and adventure photographer who is based in Banff, Canada. Paul Zizka shares his experience of documenting nature in Western Canada.
What are your favourite activities to do in Western Canada?
I love to explore year-round and enjoy venturing into new terrain with my camera in hand to document the experience. In the colder months, I really enjoy wild ice skating and spending time introducing my kids to the joys of winter in the mountains. In the warmer months, I enjoy mountaineering, hiking, camping, and paddling.
Do you have any places in Western Canada on your bucket list that you haven’t yet visited?
Haida Gwaii comes to mind. It seems to be a really powerful, beautiful, and magnetic place with a wonderful sense of mystery. I’m drawn to more remote places and it fits the bill. I think it would offer a lot from a photography standpoint.
What makes Western Canada unique when compared to all the other places you’ve visited?
Western Canada has a huge amount of variety in the landscape. For such a compact area, you’re able to experience something unique in a lot of different environments. The access to wild spaces, whether by road or by trail, is tremendous. There’s a lifetime’s worth of locations to explore!
What do you recommend people keep in mind when travelling to Western Canada?
It’s important to be mindful of your impact on the landscape when you’re recreating in the outdoors. Travellers should also educate themselves on best practices when recreating in wild spaces, and then put those into action. It’s important that others who follow in your footsteps can have the same experience that you had. I recommend following the principles of Leave No Trace.
