Mattias Klum was born in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1968. He started taking pictures as a teenager, and since 1986 he has worked full-time as a freelance photographer. In an artistic way that is entirely his own, Klum has described and portrayed animals, plants, and natural and cultural settings in the form of articles, books, films, and exhibitions.
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A coveted lecturer worldwide, Klum's work has been published in a large number of international magazines, such as National Geographic, Wildlife Conservation, Audubon, GEO, Terre Sauvage, Stern, Der Spiegel, and the New York Times.
In 1997 National Geographic magazine published Klum's photos for the first time and he became the first Swede to have his work on the magazine's cover. One of its youngest ever contributors, he has had his photos in a number of National Geographic articles and on eight covers.
Klum has published nine books: Moments, When the Mist Rises (Panda Book of the Year in 1993), A Journey Through Sweden, Exploring the Rainforest, Borneo Rainforest, (Panda Book of the Year in 1998), Inside Borneo, The Brittle Thread, Horse People, and Being There.
Over the years, Klum has received numerous awards and grants for his work. The Uppsala City Council bestowed on him its gold medal for his outstanding work from an Uppsala base. The Uppsala County Administration granted him the title Citizen of the Year in Uppland 2007. In 2008 the World Economic Forum nominated him a Young Global Leader. And His Majesty the King of Sweden granted Klum a medal of the eigth grade with a blue ribbon for his important contributions as a nature photographer.
Since 2008 Klum has been a guest lecturer at Uppsala University. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of WWF-Sweden and a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
Klum has undertaken numerous major expeditions to Malaysia, India, Nigeria, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guyana, Thailand, South Africa, Ecuador, Panama, Mongolia, Peru, and Antarctica, among other locations.
He has produced documentary films, including Borneo's Rainforest and The Brittle Thread (Asia's Last Lions), with his wife and colleague, Monika Klum, and The Linnaeus Expedition with producer Folke Rydén.
In 2007 Klum contributed in the startup of a publishing company, Tierra Grande Publishing; the fund-raising Terra Magna Foundation; Expedition Sweden, a five-year environment and inspiration project about Sweden; and the Baltic Sea Media Project, together with Rydén.
Klum's photographs have been exhibited in one-man shows at renowned museums and art galleries in the United States, Sweden, Malaysia, India, Japan, and Great Britain, among other countries. His photographs are represented by the National Geographic Image Collection.
