Home and studio: Telluride, Colo., and upstate New York.

Books: "Keepers of the Spirit" (1993), "New Guinea: Where Masks Still Dance" (1996), "Ancient Marks" (2004)Recent Accolades: The Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Magazine Photography; five National Press Association Picture of the Year awards; a Communications Arts award; listed as one of American Photo's 100 Most Influential People Working in Photography.

Clients: National Geographic Publications, Time, Life, The New York Times, Smithsonian, The New Yorker, the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, the United Nations.

Preferred equipment: For black-and-white – Hasselblad, Fuji 617s and Diana cameras. "My love is black-and-white, and I will always shoot black-and-white," he says. For color work – Canon D-series cameras. Also, Norman 400B electronic flashes.

Personal Projects: He has two book projects in the works, one that deals with capturing the meaning of the word "sacred" and the other on ancient Asia. Visit chrisrainier.com for details.

Advice for aspiring travel photographers: "You have to be driven by passion. You have to be driven by a love of telling the story. And if that's not there, something's missing. If that's present, then it will take you through to the very end."

Website:chrisrainier.com