WORTHINGTON — Jim Brandenburg, a world-renowned nature photographer who once served as a photojournalist for the Globe, was honored with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award "for expanding the possibilities of our medium" from The Photo Society of the National Geographic magazine.
Brandenburg said in a Facebook post that he is quite humbled to have received the award from his colleagues at National Geographic.
“The Photo Society, comprised of 200 of the magazine’s photographers spanning three generations, surprised me with this announcement,” Brandenburg wrote on his social media page. “To belong to the group, the photographer must have done serious photographic feature assignment work for the magazine.”
He went on to say that the award is unique because he was selected by his peers, and noted that only five of his colleagues have been awarded this Lifetime Achievement Award previously.
Brandenburg was unable to accept the award in person in January due to his immersion in two movie projects in Europe — a feature film about his life in nature in Paris, and another film that he created, wrote and is producing in Italy.
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Brandenburg's first assignment for National Geographic was with its television division 50 years ago, for “Strange Creatures of the Night,” a primetime television special. His last and largest story for National Geographic was "93 Days of Spring" in 2016.
Brandenburg, a native of Luverne, began taking pictures for the Globe while he was enrolled at Worthington Junior College, shooting sports, county fairs and ad campaigns, also serving as a paper delivery boy. He went to college and in 1971, returned to the Globe as a full-time photojournalist.
“I am now back in a snowy Minnesota feeling extremely honored and a bit breathless contemplating it all,” Brandenburg wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday. “I am especially appreciative and beyond grateful for all the family and friends that helped pave the way. This is not possible without that kind of support!”
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