Olaf Soot photography

Olaf Soot is an explorer, engineer, and photographer, who has spent a lifetime unveiling the patterns of the natural world. The joy of unraveling the secrets of nature has characterized his career, both in his gift with the camera and in his grasp of technical concepts. Finding a way through a wilderness to an unexplored summit, for Olaf, is much like solving an engineering problem or designing something new. Both require vision, knowledge, and care.

Olaf and his wife Gitta have explored rivers, lands and mountains on four continents. They have chronicled their journeys on film, including a 10,000-mile odyssey along the crest of the Western Hemisphere from Alaska to Patagonia.

Olaf’s photography combines scenic beauty with artistic composition and often includes people. Many of his images are photographed in spectacular remote wilderness areas, seen only by a few and some in high mountains that are hard to reach. Others look at the results of human effort. His camera eye has roamed from remote villages in the Andes to sophistication of New York City and beyond.

Olaf’s classic movies Alps of Wyoming and Zero Zero Romeo, celebrating both climbing mountains and soaring above them, have won prestigious international awards. Photography and other journals have published his stills, which also hang in many homes and in the collections of American corporations. Olaf’s photography is also published in books Adirondacks Alive and Alpine Americas.

Olaf Sööt is also well known in the field of engineering for his unique designs that support the performances in the Metropolitan Opera in New York, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, and in the magic behind the Cirque du Soleil’s “O” show at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. His innovations range from solving serious problems in the fields of energy, transportation and handicapped access, to designing unique rides and attractions for major theme parks.