Pete McBride
Pete McBride is a Colorado photographer, filmmaker and author who follows rivers and wild places to tell stories about water, conservation and our place in nature.
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Pete’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Home roots
- Raised in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
- Work
- Photographer, filmmaker, author and speaker
- Early breakthrough
- A London-to-Cape Town biplane expedition became his first National Geographic story
- Recurring subject
- The Colorado River, from its headwaters to its dry delta
- Creative partner
- Writer and Grand Canyon walking partner Kevin Fedarko
Mini bio
How it started.
Raised in Colorado, Pete taught himself photography and built his craft through newspapers, small magazines and freelance writing and photography. His first National Geographic story grew out of a London-to-Cape Town flight in a replica World War I Vickers Vimy biplane. He had volunteered with the expedition team for two years before taking on the photographer’s role.
The river close to home.
After years of assignments abroad, Pete turned toward the Colorado River. He wanted to tell the wider story of a river he had grown up around. That work became books, films and an ongoing effort to help people see the connections between their lives and fresh water.
Walking the canyon.
With writer Kevin Fedarko, Pete walked 750 miles through the Grand Canyon. The journey became the documentary Into the Canyon and the photography book The Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim, exploring both the landscape and the development pressures around it.
What he is making now.
Witness to Water, published in 2026, brings a personal narrative to his long-running Colorado River work. His next book, Wild Silence, adapts the world of Seeing Silence for young readers, with Andrea Gollin adapting the text and Ségolène Derudder illustrating.
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
- 2026Witness to Water: One Photographer’s Mission to Defend the Colorado RiverAuthor
- 2024The Colorado River: Chasing WaterAuthor and photographer
- 2021Seeing Silence: The Beauty of the World’s Most Quiet PlacesAuthor and photographer
- 2018The Grand Canyon: Between River and RimAuthor and photographer
Film
- 2019Into the CanyonDirector
Awards
- Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography2025 · Sierra Club, recognizing his conservation storytelling.
- National Outdoor Book Award2024 · The Colorado River: Chasing Water.
- National Outdoor Book Award2022 · Seeing Silence, Nature & the Environment category.
- Public Lands Alliance Partnership Book of the Year2019 · The Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim.
Quotes
Find a story that you’re passionate about and shoot for something that’s important to you.Pete McBride, official FAQ
Advice to aspiring photographers. https://petemcbride.com/faq/
Trivia
- Before his first National Geographic story, he worked jobs that included carpentry while volunteering for an aviation expedition.
- To keep his pack light filming Into the Canyon, he mostly used one camera and one lens: a Sony α7R II and a 16–35mm f/4.
- He has kept a 1978 Super Cub airworthy after years of flying in it with his father.
Find Pete
Follow Pete’s photographs, films and stories from rivers and wild places.
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