Quang-Tuan Luong celebrates the splendor and variety of the natural and human heritage with his photography . He has been privileged to travel through an immense geographic range, from the top of the coldest mountain on earth to under tropical seas.

Born to Vietnamese parents in Paris, France, he was trained as a scientist (PhD U. Paris). The revelation of the high Alps led him to become a mountain climber and wilderness guide. When he came to the US to conduct research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing for what was to be a short stay, he chose UC Berkeley, because of the proximity to Yosemite--a world class rock climbing destination.

There, he felt in love with the National Parks and decided to photograph all of them with a 5x7 large format camera , a single-handed, self-financed, monumental project that had not been completed by anyone before. To that effect, he settled in the San Francisco Bay Area and started criss-crossing this country to capture it's diverse beauty. Luong's in-depth coverage of the Parks often dictated long hikes into the backcountry, with a 75 lb backpack, and onl y his passion and dedication to keep him company. By 2002, he had visited each of the 58 National Parks. He subsequently left his distinguished career as a scientist to work as a full-time photographer.

His photographs have been published in many books, and have appeared in several publications from National Geographic, Time, Life, Outside, Scientific American, GEO, and many others in dozens of countries around the world. However , he reached his largest audience through www.terragalleria.com, one of the most extensive and most visited of all individual photographers websites.

Intrigued by the story of Luong's life and project, and impressed by his images, Ken Burns featured him as one of the few living characters in his new film "The National Parks: America's Best Idea", a newcomer who was deeply moved by America's natural beauty, who has dedicated his efforts to raise awareness and respect for our national treasures.

All photographs are available as limited edition prints. To view them, or contact Quang-Tuan Luong, please visit www.terragalleria.com

Photo of Quang-Tuan Luong in Kings Canyon National Park by Buddy Squires