Each year, PhotoMedia recognizes a person in the photography industry who has best demonstrated exceptional artistic and business accomplishments, photographic passion, devotion to the industry, inspiration to colleagues and humanitarian achievements in the community.

For his efforts to document the real-time effects of global climate change on the planet's ice caps and to educate the public about the resulting reduction of habitat for the world’s endangered species, PhotoMedia is honored to name James Balog as our Photography Person of the Year for 2011. For more information about his Extreme Ice Survey, visit extremeicesurvey.org.