George Butler was born in Chester, England in 1943. In 1972, a photo assignment for Life magazine to cover the Mr. Universe contest in Baghdad, Iraq led to the publication of Pumping Iron: the Art and Sport of Bodybuilding (Simon & Schuster). He directed the acclaimed 1977 film Pumping Iron about a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1994 he produced and directed the award-winning film The Endurance about Antarctic explorer Ernest Shakleton. His most recent film "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2004. His images of the Massachusetts senator, who he has photographed for thirty-five years, have been published in John Kerry: A Portrait (Bulfinch 2004). His photographic collection is distributed through Contact Press Images. He is based in New Hampshire, USA.