Photo graduate's river adventure turns into Emmy-winning documentary

A regular rock climber, hiker and trail runner, David Wallace ’01 (Professional Photographic Illustration) is an adventure seeker. 

With the completion of a thrilling assignment as senior producer/strategist for documentary video for The Arizona Republic, Wallace can now also call himself a whitewater rafter. And a seven-time Rocky Mountain Emmy Award winner. 

Wallace and Michael Chow were the directors, cinematographers and editors of the publication’s documentary “An Unnatural Wonder,” which won a 2019 Rocky Mountain Emmy in the Environmental News category. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awards regional Emmys across all of its U.S. chapters.

For the project, Wallace and former Arizona Republic reporter Brandon Loomis captained their own raft and recorded a 16-day trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Through dynamic video footage, photography and interviews with experts and others, the documentary details how the river’s ecology has been altered since the Glen Canyon Dam’s gates closed in 1963.

“First and foremost, you want to impact readers or viewers — that’s the primary focus,” said Wallace, who had a lead role on five of the seven Rocky Mountain Emmy Award-winning works he’s been a part of. “But then to be recognized by your peers for having done good work is a nice thing and it’s exciting.”

Wallace said his first whitewater rafting experience was intense, but that navigating the Colorado River waters in the Grand Canyon has long been on his adventure radar. So his reaction to the assignment was fitting.

“The most exhilarating moment of the whole thing was probably when my editors first told me they wanted me to do this,” Wallace said. “This is a trip I’ve always wanted to do. When my editors told me I was trying to play it cool but I was so excited.”

Wallace said he developed valuable skills during the “incredible experience.” He learned how to rig a whitewater raft, traverse rough waters and keep photography and video equipment safe yet accessible throughout. 

Prioritizing safety above all else while capturing powerful and relevant visuals and sound was a balancing act that proved exhausting, yet rewarding for Wallace.

“Most people do this for the adventure and fun,” Wallace said. “And it was fun and it was an adventure but I was also there for work, to tell a story.”

“An Unnatural Wonder” runs 30 minutes and documents changes the hydroelectric dam and human activity have brought to the natural river over the last 50-plus years. Scenes include the impact on bugs, fish, water flow and levels and vegetation. Following the 16-day river jaunt, Wallace said there was a couple months of editing and follow-up interviews prior to the project’s October 2018 release.

The video was also selected into the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, held Oct. 17-27 in New York City.

Wallace’s role at The Arizona Republic has evolved the last few years to incorporate a high volume of video work in addition to some still photography — which he also performed on his Colorado River journey. His multifaceted skill set is similar to the one being instilled in current RIT Photojournalism students.

“The differences between still photography and documentary video are huge but storytelling is still storytelling,” Wallace said. “And RIT was pivotal in teaching me how to be a good visual storyteller.”

Wallace is also one of nine RIT School of Photographic Arts and Sciences graduates to win a combined 13 Pulitzer Prizes in photojournalism. He was a videographer on a team that won a 2018 prize for explanatory reporting.