Staff Photographer

Zbigniew Bzdak left his native Poland in 1979 to travel, photograph and explore rivers in Latin America. After settling in the United States his photographic work has been published in magazines including National Geographic, Geo, Reader’s Digest and The New Yorker. His photographs of the first kayaking team to successfully navigate the Amazon River were published by National Geographic and Outside magazines and were included in the book “Running the Amazon” by Joe Kane, published by Alfred A. Knopf. In 1991 he won a Communication Arts award for the book of his photographs “Living in Wyoming, Settling for More.” He also documented the Huaorani tribe in the Amazon region of Ecuador (1991 to 1993) and photographed an expedition to the source of the Amazon in Peru for the National Geographic Society (2000). Zbigniew spent the year 2000 as a staff photographer for the Chicago in the Year 2000 documentary project where he focused on documenting religion in immigrant communities. At present he is a staff photographer for the Chicago Tribune where he covers local, national and international assignments including the war in Iraq, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 campaign of President Barack Obama, the Presidential Inauguration and the first 100 days of the Obama presidency.

Photography. Sea kayaking, hiking and climbing.