2004 Summit of Excellence Award

Craig Richards

Mountain Photographer

Craig Richards’s images of the Rockies have been featured in exhibitions around the world and his work has inspired a new generation of photographers. Mountain photography is woven into every aspect of Craig’s life. An avid hiker and cross-country skier, Craig lives in Canmore, Alberta. His images have been the subject of some 27 solo exhibitions and featured at public and commercial galleries throughout the world.

Since 1986, Craig has been head of photography at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff. As curator, he has been responsible for numerous contemporary and historical photographic exhibitions and is the driving force behind the Museum’s outreach program “Through the Lens.” Through this program he works with Bow Valley youth, encouraging them to use photography to communicate what is special to them about where they live.

Craigs’ book The Canadian Rockies won the Banff National Park Award at the Banff Mountain Book Festival in 1995. The Canadian government and Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre have sponsored major exhibitions of his studies of the Rockies, sending them to Mexico, Japan, and Europe. In 1997, the Museo Nazionale Della Montagna in Turin, Italy, chose Craig as one of four international photographers to participate in a study of the Italian Alps. The resulting exhibition toured through Europe, North America, and Japan.

In 1999, Craig photographed 32 of the world’s greatest mountain climbers for Voices from the Summit, published by National Geographic and Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre. The exhibition Portraits from the Summit toured throughout Europe and North America. Craig has also travelled extensively in Mexico and Guatemala, photographing the highland Mayan people and their mountainous homeland and is currently working on a book of these images.

Summit of Excellence Past Award Winners

• 2011 – Philippe Delesalle – Architect and Mountaineer
• 2010 – Peter Fuhrmann – Mountaineer, Alpine guide, Rescue specialist
• 2009 – Sid Marty – Writer, Musician, Conservationist
• 2008 – Don Vockeroth – Mountain Climbing Pioneer
• 2007 – Bernadette McDonald – Author, Climber, Festival Director
• 2006 – Gillean and Tony Daffern – Publishers of Mountain Books
• 2005 – Glen Boles – Climber, Artist
• 2004 – Craig Richards – Mountain Photographer
• 2003 – Willi Pfisterer – Mountain Rescue Innovator
• 2002 – Barry Blanchard – Alpinist
• 2001 – Bob Sandford – Historian, Author, Interpreter
• 2000 – Chic Scott – Mountaineer, Guide, Writer
• 1999 – Guy Lacelle – Climber
• 1998 – John Martin – Climber and Mountain Lover
• 1997 – Sharon Wood – Mother, Mentor, Mountaineer
• 1996 – Tim Auger – Park Warden, Rescue Specialist
• 1995 – Brian Greenwood – Climber
• 1994 – Lloyd “Kiwi” Gallagher – Emergency Services Coordinator
• 1993 – Roger Vernon – Filmmaker
• 1992 – Jon Whyte – Historian
• 1991 – Don Forest – Mountaineer
• 1990 – Pat Morrow – Seven Summits
• 1989 – Hans Gmoser – Heli-Skiing
• 1988 – Jim Davies – Rescue Pilot
• 1987 – Bruno Engler – Photographer