08-04-2025
'The world is going to miss a talent like that'
Apr. 8—WORTHINGTON — In an August 2022 interview with The Globe, Luverne native and world renowned wildlife photographer Jim Brandenburg said it was his introduction to Globe newsman Jim Vance that forged his place behind the camera lens.
His budding career began at the local newspaper, but it was Brandenburg's childhood — spent near Blue Mounds State Park and what is now the Brandenburg Prairie Foundation's Touch The Sky Prairie north of Luverne — that nurtured his skill as a photographer who captured nature in its purest form.
Brandenburg died on Friday in his Medina home, surrounded by family, according to a post on his Facebook page and shared by his wife, Judy. He was being treated for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma for the past seven months, with complications from pneumonia this year. He was 79.
Though his work took him around the world, documenting nature and wildlife for National Geographic for nearly 40 years, his heart never strayed far from his Rock County roots.
In 2000, at the urging of then-Luverne Chamber of Commerce Director Dave Smith and local businessman Randy Creeger, the community celebrated the opening of the Brandenburg Gallery — the second of two galleries still open today. The original gallery is located in Ely, where the Brandenburgs still have their Ravenwood home.
Jane Lanphere, who became the Chamber's director in 2007, said the community approached Brandenburg with the gallery idea as a way to provide tourists with another option in the community of 5,000 when they were in town to visit Blue Mounds State Park.
The gallery was initially a standalone entity, owned and operated by the Brandenburg Prairie Foundation, and then joined efforts with the Chamber to share both space and staff. Today, the gallery is located in Luverne's historic courthouse square, sharing space with the Herreid Military Museum and Luverne Chamber.
Lanphere said she, along with Warren Herreid, Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre, and Smith traveled to Ely to talk about the potential partnership in the new location.
"Jim asked, 'Do you think it would be good for Luverne?'" Lanphere recalled. "Then he said if it's good for Luverne and good for Rock County, it was good for the foundation.
"That's the kind of person he was," she added. "Supporting others to make things work."
Lanphere's last visit with Brandenburg was sometime around February 2024, she said. He came to Luverne with a film crew from France, working on a documentary about Brandenburg's life and scouting scenes at Touch the Sky Prairie.
The film crew had three days to spend in Minnesota, and in that time they traveled to Luverne, Rochester and Ely.
"(Brandenburg) was here for about an hour and he was so excited," Lanphere shared.
He had planned to return to Luverne in September to present the town with a 1942 Willys Jeep rescued from France and restored to drivable condition. The Jeep was the featured entry in a Sept. 7 parade down Main Street, but Brandenburg was unable to make the trip upon the advice of his doctors. It was then that Lanphere learned of his cancer diagnosis.
In 1999, Jim and Judy Brandenburg established the
Brandenburg Prairie Foundation
, its mission to promote, preserve and expand the native prairie in southwest Minnesota. Through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the foundation has restored approximately 1,200 contiguous acres of Rock County land into prairie. It's part of the greater Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge.
Lanphere said one of her best memories of Brandenburg dates back to July 2010, when the University of Minnesota arranged an educator forum for science teachers to attend a nature and photography class with Brandenburg at Touch the Sky.
Brandenburg had been out on the property before the group arrived, and had a scheduled meeting with Lanphere at the Chamber office.
"He came in, he was so excited," she shared. "He was never on time — he always found one more thing to do — (but) he took this photo with his cell phone of the (
western fringed prairie) orchid
and we talked about the impact of saving the prairie.
When the land was acquired in 1999, a botanist counted 237 species of native plants. By 2013, more than 1,200 native species were counted.
"He talked about nature regenerating itself; that nature can survive anything," Lanphere said. "That was just a precious conversation."
Lanphere said Brandenburg was always willing to take people for a walk at Touch the Sky Prairie and talk about nature. He shared those stories orally with the people he met, and through his photographs for the rest of the world.
"The world is going to miss a talent like that," Lanphere said. "Thank heavens we have the images that will live forever. You could see his passion for nature in every picture he took. He sincerely loved nature and he sincerely loved people. He treated nature with respect and he treated people with respect."
Globe Publisher Joni Harms missed the opportunity to work with Brandenburg by mere months. He was a
photojournalist and newspaper delivery driver
for the Worthington newspaper from 1971 — while he was a student at then-Worthington Community College — until the spring of 1978, when he became a contract photographer for National Geographic.
"While I never actually got to work with Jim at the Daily Globe, I felt his presence every day and heard bigger-than-life tales of him and his tremendous talents," Harms shared. "I remember thinking it was so exciting that he left to work for National Geographic."
At the time Brandenburg left the newspaper, his wife worked in the front office, where she remained for the first few years of his job with NatGeo. Harms said Judy would keep them abreast of Jim's happenings and their family, which included son, Anthony, and daughter, Heidi.
Anthony
died on Feb. 24 — a mere 39 days before his father's death.
When Harms served as president of the Minnesota Newspaper Association, she invited Brandenburg to speak at a general session of the conference. He shared stories and photographs that spanned his career and spoke passionately about saving the prairie and stopping the open hunts on wolves.
"I was told later by several attendees that the Brandenburg presentation was one of the best they had heard over the years," Harms shared. "One of my treasured memories is the note I received from Jim, thanking me for having him speak at our convention, along with a couple of his signed prints that I had framed and hung in my office at The Globe. I get to look at them every day."
In January 2023, Brandenburg was honored with National Geographic's
Lifetime Achievement Award
. He was unable to accept the award in person due to his immersion in two movie projects in Europe — a feature film about his life in nature in Paris, and another film he created, wrote and is producing in Italy. In a press release, Brandenburg said the award was unique because he was chosen for the award from among his peers.
Only five other National Geographic photographers had received the award, he noted.
Brandenburg last contributed to the magazine in 2016 with his photo essay "93 Days of Spring."
He also published 10 books during his lifetime, including "Chased by the Light: A 90-Day Journey," "Brother Wolf: A Forgotten Promise," "Looking for Summer," and "White Wolf." Among the collection is "Minnesota: Images of Home," a collaboration between Brandenburg and former Globe newsman Paul Gruchow.
He had planned to produce at least one more book based on his 365-day challenge to take a single photo each day during each season. Chased by the Light (taken from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice) and Looking for Summer were the first two installments. While the spring images appeared in NatGeo, they never made their way into book form, and Brandenburg completed the winter season images in 2020. His goal was to bring all 365 images together in one book.
