Ivan Sjögren is a nature and wildlife photographer born in Stockholm, Sweden. Being raised in an urban environment during all of his childhood Ivan’s parents still saw it as necessary to spend time in nature and as a result, his passion for wildlife, especially birds, grew early. At the age of 10 years old Ivan started to get seriously devoted into birdwatching. Every holiday abroad was mainly circulated around the exotic birds that existed in that country. Because of his father’s profession as a translator from Portuguese, Ivan’s family made several trips to Brazil at a young age. Seeing hummingbirds, toucans and parrots close up would have made any kid adore the wild.
In 2009, at the age of 13, Ivan bought his first digital camera, a Canon 400D. He started capturing the unique moments he and his family shared in the nature. Photography quickly intensified his passion for wildlife and birds. Even from the beginning nature photography for Ivan was about showing a wider audience the nature and the animals that lived among us. It was also a way to spread knowledge about threatened species that is so important to save.
Ivan grew up in a time where photography started to become the norm for many birdwatchers. Together with fast and easy sharing of pictures through the web it was something that created a hard competition among photographers to make your images stand out. However the big interest in the field has also led to a lot of inspiration. In 2016 Ivan and some friends that shared the same interest started a community called Young Nordic Nature Photographers (YNNP). It is a community focusing on exposing upcoming stars among nature photographers to a bigger public. In the group they share interpretations of the natural world, and the work behind the astounding pictures. Another target of the YNNP community is to encourage young nature photographers to be more active in the field. To date, there are 29 members in the community and together they share ideas, experiences and stories with each other.
The early knowledge of different species behavior that came from Ivan's interest in birdwatching has always helped him to respect the wild and achieve better photos. During the years he developed a more artistic style of documentation that aims on showing the animals in their true habitat. Ivan has been published in several national and international magazines such as Dutch Birding, Outdoor Photography, Fotosidans Magazine and Audubon Magazine. He has also contributed extensively to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library the world’s largest and oldest scientific archive of wildlife recordings. Their mission is to collect and preserve recordings of each species’ behavior and natural history, to facilitate the ability of others to collect and preserve such recordings, and to promote the use of these recordings for diverse purposes spanning scientific research, education, conservation, and the arts. In 2018 Ivan was awarded his first international acknowledgement in the prestigious competition Bird Photographer of the Year. Since then, Ivan has been awarded in several of the most respected wildlife photo competitions in the world.
Professionally, Ivan works as an policy advisor on water governance issues for a non-governmental organisation, with issues and consultations mainly related to the United Nations Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). Through his work he focuses on environmental justice, as well as the role of water governance in biodiversity protection and climate change. Prior to this, he led several field trips in Azerbaijan, Brazil and Sweden for ornithological research, environmental protection promotion and youth engagement for biological interest.
GEAR:
Canon EOS R5 Mark I
Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2,8L IS USM
Canon EF 70 - 300mm 1:4-5.6 L IS USM
Canon RF 24-70MM F/2.8 L IS USM
Canon EF 18-55mm f/3.5- 5.6 IS
Canon SpeedLite 430EX II