Mattias Klum is a Swedish freelance photographer and film producer in natural history and cultural subjects. He is the son of Swedish academic educator Arne Klum and Ingegärd Klum, née Stefanson. Klum has worked full-time as a freelance photographer since 1986, and as a cinematographer and director on numerous film and television projects since 1994. Klum describes and portrays animals, plants, and natural and cultural settings in the form of articles, books, films, lectures and exhibitions. Klum has had several wildlife documentaries shown on Swedish national TV and has also had his work featured in Wildlife Conservation, Audubon, Geo, National Geographic, , Stern, Der Spiegel and the New York Times among others. In 1997 National Geographic Magazine published Mattias Klum's photographs for the first time, which made him the first Swede to have his work on the cover, then he was one of National Geographic's youngest contributors. Since 1997, he has produced a number of articles and twelve cover stories for the magazine, including "Malaysia's Secret Realm", "Asia's Last Lions", "Meerkats Stand Tall", "What Darwin Didn't Know" and "The Bite That Heals". Klum's photographs have been exhibited in one-man shows at reputable museums and art galleries in the US, Sweden, Malaysia, India, Japan, Great Britain, Estonia, Denmark, Botswana, Spain, China and Singapore among other countries. Klum has published twelve books, five of them available in English: Exploring the Rainforest, Borneo Rainforest, Horse People, Being There and The Human Quest. In 2007 Klum contributed to the starting of a publishing company, Tierra Grande Publishing, the fundraising Terra Magna Foundation and Expeditionsverige.se, a five-year-long environment and inspiration project about Sweden and the Baltic Sea Media Project together with producer Folke Rydén. He has also coached and collaborated with Sweden's Prince Carl Philip. The book, The Human Quest: Prospering Within Planetary Boundaries, is co-authored by scientist and global sustainability expert Johan Rockström with a foreword by former President Bill Clinton. Mattias Klum's latest book ”Världar av Liv” was published in 2013 by Max Ström. In 2013 Klum has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in Natural Science by Stockholm University and named WWF, the World Wildlife Fund ambassador.
Klum has produced documentary films including Borneo's Rainforest and The Brittle Thread with his former wife and colleague Monika Klum and The Linnaeus Expedition with producer Folke Rydén. Klum and his team have collaborated on the music video project Funk for Life, with renowned musician Nils Landgren. This project supports Médecins Sans Frontières and their work in Kibera, Kenya.
Mattias Klum is a grandson of Stefan Anderson, and nephew of Birgit Ridderstedt. He has two sons with his former wife Monika Klum. He is married to artist and photographer Iris Alexandrov since November 2017.
Awards and Act of Honour
Over the years, Mattias Klum has received numerous awards and grants for his work.
Uppsala City Council bestowed him with its gold medal for outstanding work from an Uppsala base, 2002.
The King of Sweden granted Klum his medal of the 8th gradewith a blue ribbon for his important contributions as a wildlife photographer, 2003.
