Rich will present heart-stopping photography of exceptional athletes and inspiring, amusing field notes from a new book, "My Favorite Place," that looks at the relationship between the adventurer and the landscape.
"Corey is at the top of the incredibly demanding profession of adventure photographers," said Bennett Barthelemy, photojournalism and rock-climbing instructor at HSU. "This means in order to land those covers and features he manages month after month, he has to be amazingly fit and an incredible all-around athlete himself. He must not only be on location and following some of the strongest athletes in the world (hanging 2,000 feet up El Capitan shooting Tommy Caldwell, for example) but he must also document the action with mind-blowing photos."
"My Favorite Place," written by Rich and adventure journalist Jason Paur, follows some of the world's greatest outdoor athletes to their favorite places to play, including carving through deep powder on the flanks of a volcano, surfing a favorite break or paragliding over a 10,000-foot peak.
"Writing and photographing this book was a dream project for both of us," said Rich. "It was an opportunity to travel to 14 amazing geographic locations and photograph a guided tour of the athlete's favorite backyard playground. In most cases the athletes really wanted Jason and me to have a chance to experience the sport and the area first hand. This was a golden opportunity for us to learn the basics of many of the sports in this book from the best practitioners in the business."
"This will be an entertaining and insightful evening as Rich tells us the real stories and techniques behind the photos in the book," said Mark Larson, journalism professor at HSU. "He will have books and photos on display after the lecture."
"I feel like I'm the luckiest guy on earth," said Rich, who lives in South Lake Tahoe. "I get paid to play, to do exactly what I love most. In the last 10 years, I've had the opportunity to photograph some amazing adventures: rock climbing in Mexico, surfing in Panama, freight-train hopping in the American West, ultra-marathon racing in the Sahara Desert of Morocco, and snowboarding in Papua New Guinea. Somehow, I've managed to get Sports Illustrated, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Time, Men's Journal and many other publications to pay for my vacations."
His clients also include Anheuser-Busch, Nike, Patagonia, and The North Face.