Israeli photographer, entrepreneur and environmental activist
Roie Galitz |
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| Born |
(1980-11-20) November 20, 1980 (age 43) |
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| Nationality | Israeli |
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| Occupation(s) | photographer, entrepreneur and environmental activist |
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Roie Galitz (Hebrew: רועי גליץ, born November 20, 1980) is an Israeli photographer, entrepreneur and environmental activist. He is known for his wildlife photographs, some of which have won international awards, especially those taken north of the Arctic Circle. Locally, Galitz founded Israel's largest school of photography, a photography-oriented travel company and the Israel Photography Conference.
Galitz is a Greenpeace Ambassador and engages in conservation work around the world. He is recognized for his talks at the United Nations, the NYC Climate Week and TEDx talks in Helsinki University, Glasgow and Wexford alongside global conventions everywhere. Galitz is also an ambassador for Nikon, Gitzo, G-Technology, and Lowepro.
Galitz grew up in Netanya, and currently lives in New York City.[1] He has four children.[2]
Photography
Galitz started out as a photographer taking pictures of static objects such as jewelry. He then worked as a pension insurance salesman, before returning to photography.[3] His main interests are travel and wildlife conservation. In 2015, one of his wildlife photos, dubbed Run for Your Life, received an honorable mention at the Siena International Photo Awards.[4] In May 2015, on his third trip to Svalbard, Galitz was able to capture close-ups of polar bears.[5] One such image, where a polar bear catches a seal, received an honorable mention at the Siena Awards, 2016.[6] In 2017 he received first place at Siena in the Fragile Ice category for a photo of a sleeping polar bear titled Dreaming on Sea Ice.[7][8] Another honorable mention, as well as a remarkable artwork award, came in 2019 at Siena for additional polar bear pictures.[9][10] Additional awards received by Galitz's polar bear pictures include third place in the nature and wildlife category at the 2016 International Photography Awards.[11]
In 2017, Israeli daily Israel Hayom called Galitz one of the leading nature photographers in Israel and the world.[12]
Entrepreneurship
After taking a job teaching photography in 2007, Galitz opened his own school, which went on to become the biggest school of this kind in Israel. Until 2017, it had served about 23,000 students in 1,300 classes. Aside from the original Ramat Gan facility, the school opened additional branches in Jerusalem and Haifa.[12] In 2010, he founded PhotoTeva, a travel company specializing in photo travel. He also founded TalkMaster, a public speaking school. In 2018, Galitz was listed as one of 40 under-40 managers in Israel.[3]
Activism
Galitz has been campaigning to raise awareness to environmental issues, some of which he encountered in his travels and photo shoots.[3] He has signed on as Antarctic Ambassador for Greenpeace.[13] He gave multiple TEDx talks on the subject.[14]
