Film
Elk River
National Geographic
Travel with elk herds on their incredible migration from Wyoming’s ranch lands to Yellowstone’s high-alpine meadows in Elk River.
Scientist Arthur Middleton, photographer Joe Riis, and artist James Prosek follow these remarkable ungulates on their journey as they trek over steep mountain passes and ford treacherous river crossings. Along the way, this band of explorers meet backcountry guides and cattle ranchers whose lives are intricately tied with the fate of the elk and other migratory species that live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Filmmaker Jenny Nichols captures the action and skillfully edits the many narratives into one cohesive piece that blends art, conservation, and science.
This video was part of the exhibition Invisible Boundaries organized by Middleton, Riis, and Prosek at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.
NATURE: The Mystery of Eels
PBS
Though much of the natural world is discovered and understood, a few great mysteries remain. Consider the eel, we know little about its life -- where it goes, what it does and how it dies. James Prosek, artist, writer and eminent naturalist, takes on the mystery of the eel, shedding light on the animal and the strange behavior it inspires in those who seek to know it.
"James draws links between humans and eels and then fills in the wide open spaces between them—spaces most of us never even knew existed because most of us never bother to think about them. Through this he establishes our elemental ties to a creature not only abidingly mysterious, but beautiful. Then of course that's James Prosek always does—finding beauty in the elemental, in the world around us, and especially in our streams."
-Verne Gay, Newsday
The Complete Angler
ESPN and Lake Champlain Productions
From the 62nd Annual Peabody Awards, held at the Waldorf Astoria, NY, May 19, 2003
“When Yale student James Prosek convinced the university to permit him to write a senior essay on Izaak Walton, author of the 17th century classic, The Complete Angler, he had not yet read Walton’s book. When he did, he found it as much about a philosophy of life as about fishing. Prosek’s “research,” which took him to Ireland and England to fish the same rivers and streams as had Walton, is captured in this very personal documentary that celebrates nature, fishing, and most importantly, the contemplative life of the “complete” fisherman. He discovers the art of “dapping,” a method of fly-fishing still practiced as it was in Walton’s day, 350 years earlier. He fishes streams flowing under and around London—streams once central to water meadows, but now surrounded by parking lots and high-rise apartment buildings. And he makes his way into the world of private river-ways, fished only by the upper-class English gentry who control the land through which the rivers flow. With lords and princes, as well as with fishing guides and boatmen, he discovers a common bond among anglers. It is a bond that erases social barriers among those for whom angling is a way to discover the flow of life as well as the flow of waters. Executive Producers Mark Shapiro and Michael Antinoro worked with Producer Fritz Michell to craft this extraordinary film, written by Prosek and directed by Peter Franchella. For presenting the beauty of 17th century contemplation to today’s audiences in this exquisite video tone poem, a Peabody Award goes to The Complete Angler.