Cristina “Mitty” Mittermeier is a globally celebrated fine art photographer, marine biologist, and conservationist whose work explores the intimate connection between nature, culture, and the human spirit. Over a career spanning more than three decades, she has helped shape the genre of conservation photography into a powerful artistic and cultural movement.
Mittermeier is recognized for her painterly compositions and emotionally resonant portraits that lend a voice to coastal and Indigenous communities worldwide. Her photographs, exhibited at major international art fairs and galleries including Paris Photo, Art Miami, Photo London, and the Galleria d’Italia, form part of prestigious private and institutional collections. In 2025, she was named Artist of the Year by the Intersect Art and Design Fair in Aspen. She is a Sony Artisan of Imagery and aligns with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative.
Mittermeier is a two-time National News & Documentary Emmy Award recipient: in 2024, for her photographic work on The Last Ice, a film by Dr. Enric Sala about Inuit sovereignty and climate change in the Arctic; and again in 2025 for Photographer, a National Geographic documentary directed by Chai Vasarhelyi, which she co-starred in with her partner in life and work, Paul Nicklen.
She is the founder of the International League of Conservation Photographers and co-founder of SeaLegacy, a collective of photographers, filmmakers, and storytellers working to amplify ocean conservation through compelling media. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, TIME, The New York Times, Playboy, and The Wall Street Journal, among many others, and she has been named one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year.
Cristina resides between British Columbia and Mexico, continuing to travel extensively with her camera, which inspires reverence, stewardship, and a deeper sense of belonging to the living world.
