Dennis Fast
Photographer

A keen naturalist, birder and photographer, Dennis has travelled extensively throughout Manitoba, particularily our wild northern destinations (Wager Bay and the inland Hayes River) and its famous coastal hot spot, Churchill. A retired principal, Dennis now mixes education with a passion for the outdoors and photography as a sought-after guide and lecturer.

A partner in Heartland, Dennis's work is seminal in nearly every publication. The success and sell-out of Pelicans to Polar Bears:Watching Wildlife in Manitoba, should be substantially attributed to Dennis' fabulous birding and northern images. It has been lauded by American journal Photo Life as (one of) the most attarctive wildlife guides ever produced.

The featured photographer in Wapusk: White Bear of the North (April 2003), Dennis' images capture the lifecycle of this majestic creature, from cub to adolescence to adult and finally to death. His expertise and experience photographing in extreme northern conditions have put him among the select photographer in the world with the talents for capturing the light and magical qualities of the north. These stunning landscapes and shots of other northern species complete the Wapusk story. Dennis's perspective as a photographer are featured, while Rebecca Grambo narrates with a frank discussion of its changing habitat and the environmental concerns of this majestic species.

Keeping Dennis in one location for more than a few days is an arduous task as he is continually travelling across the Canada and the United States, Greenland, Iceland and even to the tropical climes of Belise, Costa Rica, Guatamala, Ecuador and Peru. Dennis ever-growing image library is organized and sourced by wife and partner Frieda at their home in Kleifeld, Manitoba.

Dennis Fast on Wapusk: White Bear of the North:

'Polar Bears are among the most magnificent predators on earth, and have fascinated me since childhood. I never dreamed that someday I would actually walk in the land of Wapusk (Cree for white bear). I still remember in vivid detail my first sighting of a wild polar bear and the feeling of awe it inspired with its beauty and latent power. Since then, I have had many polar bear encounters ­ from mothers and young cubs coming out of their dens, to adult males wrestling for supremacy. I have even been privileged to be in the presence of a dying mother, and to witness the struggle of her young cubs forced to learn survival skills without her. "Wapusk" is the story of the polar bear and the land it calls home, and the story of my passion for the North.'