Greg Von Doersten has the rare ability to shoot any sport successfully—on skis, on rivers, or from a climbing rope. He has such a great range of photography from the Himalaya, to the Grand Canyon, to deep powder, to beautiful scenes from Antarctica.
Home Base / Jackson, Wyoming
Activities / Skiing, Backcountry Skiing, Ski Mountaineering, River Exploration, Climbing, Trail Running, Adventure Travel.
Why Greg:
Camera in hand, Greg Von Doersten has sailed the Drake Passage on a ski expedition in Antarctica. He’s documented the largest rapids in the world on the Congo River and explored remote corners of the world in Spitsbergen via sea kayak and Greenland via heli-skiing for commercial and personal projects. The Jackson-based photographer regularly sets off on adventures in the Tetons, the Alps, even the Himalayas. His far-reaching work has been published in National Geographic, Powder Magazine, the New York Times, Outside, Forbes, and Men’s Journal. And his photos are sought after by recognizable brands including Atomic Skis, American Express, Delta Airlines, and Microsoft. Last year, Greg published a narrative story of his winter sports work taken throughout his career in Wyoming, titled “Angle of Repose.”
That kind of experience has given GVD, as he often goes by, a large, magazine-worthy portfolio of work. But the deeper story of Greg’s career is his ability to problem solve. For one, he has both the athleticism and creativity that allow him to scout hard-to-reach locations and return home with award-winning photos. He uses a combination of rope skills and the right gear—water housing, remote triggers, drones, the very best cameras and lenses—to set up a wide variety of angles. He knows how to tell a story.
A winter trail running campaign for Kahtoola.
Stian Hagen drops into the Southern Ocean, Antarctica.
Australis, a 75-foot expedition sailing boat crashes through rough seas during the Drake Crossing en route to Antarctica.
Specialized Skills
Von Doersten has more than 40 years of experience behind the lens since college. And in the span of his career, he’s withstood major upheavals and transitions of all kinds: new generations of athletes, constant evolutions of ski, climbing and camera technology, the proliferation of access to photography and the widespread talent that followed. The key to staying at the top of the field is, again, being the person who finds solutions, who delivers stories that haven’t been told before.
“We all need to get out of the sea of sameness,” Greg says. “Let’s continue to push the envelope. Just because we have 50 to 60 years of outdoor adventure and action sports photography in the collective archives, we all as creatives need to keep pushing ourselves into the newest technology and also be on the very top of the industry, knowing what stories are out there.”
Steph Davis in Canyonland, UT.
GVD—at the oars—was a river guide first.
Dylan Silver
Whitewater skills translate to shore breaks.
What's Next
Greg is leaning into the fine art world, publishing gallery-worthy, limited edition prints of his best work. And as usual, he’s on the trail of a new story, this one about the fifty-year legacy of a river guide family in the Grand Canyon.
“I’ve been in the game long enough. I’ve seen it all,” Greg says. “I’ve worked with major commercial clients. And I’m still hungry, looking for creative ways to tell authentic stories in a collaborative manner.”
GVD is renowned for finding unique perspectives, like this POV shot of Owen Leeper in the Targhee National Forest backcountry, WY.
