About the Photographer
Kristen Honig has been pursuing her passion of photography for more than 20 years, focusing on the natural beauty of the world around her. Her work includes landscape and wildlife images from many U.S. National Parks and Monuments, as well as iconic photos of our nation’s wildfires. Recently, she travelled to both the Arctic and Antarctic regions where she witnessed first-hand the unbridled nature and pristine landscapes of some of the most remote locations on earth.
Kristen's interest in documenting wildfires began in 2000 when her hometown was threatened by a massive wildfire. She was impressed by the selflessness of the firefighters and became passionate about sharing their stories. In the summer of 2002, Kristen worked as a wildland firefighter for the National Park Service, where she gained invaluable experience working on the fireline and interfacing with Incident Management Teams. The following summer, she was awarded a federal contract as a wildfire photographer with the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). Over the past 17 years, Kristen has captured scenes from the front lines of more than a dozen wildfires throughout the western United States for the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and NIFC.
Kristen's wildfire photos have been recognized by National Geographic and featured in numerous magazines and publications, including Scientific American, Popular Science, Outside Magazine, High Country News, Wildland Firefighter Magazine, Fire Management Today, and in the novel On the Burning Edge. They are also utilized by government and non-profit agencies for educational and training materials and for disseminating information to the public on social media platforms.