bio
Native Coloradan Pete McBride has spent two decades studying the world
with a camera. A self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer, and public
speaker, he is a Sony Artisan of Light and has traveled on assignment to over
75 countries for the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Google, The Nature
Conservancy. He has also spoken on stages for TEDx, The World Economic
Forum, USAID, Nat Geo Live and more.
After a decade documenting remote expeditions from Everest to
Antarctica, McBride decided to focus his cameras closer to home on a
subject closer to his heart—his backyard river, the Colorado. Four years
and 1500 river-miles later, McBride produced an acclaimed book, three
award-winning documentaries and co-hosted a PBS TV program. Other
watersheds soon called, including a source-to-sea look at India’s sacred
Ganges River. Upon completing the journey, The National Geographic
Society named McBride a “Freshwater Hero.”
His latest project replaced rafting with walking—a lot of it. Over the course
of a year, McBride hiked the entire length of Grand Canyon National
Park — over 750 miles without a trail — to highlight development challenges
facing this iconic landscape. After completing the journey, National
Geographic named him and his hiking companion, writer Kevin Fedarko,
“Adventurers of the Year.” McBride has since released a Rizzoli book,
“Grand Canyon; Between River and Rim” that won a National Outdoor
Book Award. He accompanied the book with a feature-length documentary,
Into the Grand Canyon, for National Geographic Channel, which won Best Feature
at the Banff Mountain Film Festival among others.
McBride resides in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
See more samples of Pete’s work on Instagram @pedromcbride.
On assignment in Kenya