Peter Lik

Peter Lik stands at the summit of landscape photography. World-renowned, highly awarded, and boasting a huge international following, Lik's journey had humble origins. Born in Melbourne, Australia, to Czech immigrants, it was his parents' gift of a Kodak Brownie camera on his eighth birthday that set young Peter's course. Entirely self-taught, Lik worked hard at his craft before making a life-changing decision: to come to the United States in 1984. A defining moment in Lik's life came when he was introduced to the medium format panoramic camera. This larger-than-life camera compelled Peter to rise to its challenge to "Go big or go home." Lik did both. He returned to Australia to photograph the vastness of the Great South Land. Peter then went on to open his own fine art publishing company as well as his first gallery in his adopted hometown of Cairns. He returned to the States in 1989 for another jaunt before undertaking a mammoth trip early in the new millennium to photograph landscapes of all 50 states. Fifty thousand miles and 1,000 rolls of film later, the "biggest challenge of my life" was completed. Highlights of Peter's American odyssey can be found in his book "Spirit of America." Lik's stature as a photographer has been indisputably confirmed with his receipt of the award of Master Photographer from both the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) and the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). He has also been awarded fellowships by the British Institute of Professional Photographers (BIPP) and The Royal Photographic Society (RPS). He has sold hundreds of millions of dollars of his artwork, has 13 galleries of his own and counts presidents and celebrities among his many collectors. Exposure from his NBC produced TV series, "From the Edge with Peter Lik", has established Lik as a household name. Two more landmarks for Lik were the world record sale of his photograph "One," for $1 million and the exhibition of two of his iconic images, "Ghost" and "Inner Peace," in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. Lik's masterworks include "Ancient Spirit," "Sacred Sunrise," "Angel's Heart," "Tree of Life" and the highly acclaimed "Ghost." Each Limited Edition release is greeted with great enthusiasm by collectors and this has been reflected in recent record-breaking sales. Now at the top of his game, Peter Lik is "loving it!" at full throttle and the animated Aussie is showing no signs of slowing down.