Why photography ?
To me photography is the perfect method for story telling. Not only can I convey emotion, but
with multiple pictures I can also tell a story, which is a powerful tool in conseration.
Your inspiration ?
Nature itself and the beautiful little things it creates. Also the light and the sounds of nature
inspires me greatly. In Antarctica all of these things culminated to the best nature experience
of my life.
What is unique in your photographs ?
They are from a very inaccessible place and I was able to witness the entire life cycle of the
elusive emperor penguins. And I was able to capture the tenderness and love between these
birds in my photos.
The context of creation of your new series
I wanted to show that even though Antarctica is a hostile place there are life-forms that
make a successful living. And especially the emperor penguins do so by strongly connecting
to their mates and chicks and working as a team. They are role models to us humans. If we
worked as a team we could also achieve the seemingly impossible.
Any anecdote for us ?
When you winter in Antarctica the only thing you really miss is home and your friends and
family. In order to cope with being so far away, you start « making your home » in
Antarctica. For that reason we would give names to familiar icebergs and cracks in the ice
and sometimes even relate to them as « friends ». My best iceberg friend « sad glacier » was
a pointy ice-berg with a cave that looked like a frowny face. And although he always
frowned, his sight always made me smile ☺.
The picture you would have loved to shoot ?
Emperors diving and shooting out of the water, but that will have to wait for another time.
Other than that I am more than happy with what I got.
The latest prizes / awards / prides you got ?
2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio Award
2019 Nature’s Best Polar Passion Winner
2020 Publishing of my book « Penguin – A Story of Survival «
Your next projects ?
Still a secret, but it will be more than just photography and involve many more art forms. It
will however be about Antarctica and the emperor penguins.
Your motto ?
The planet is a gift to mankind. We need to start treating it like that.
Any crush on a YK picture ?
NASA’s Apollo 11 Earthrise image → To me one of the most iconic photographs on
Earth of Earth taken from another celestial object. The symbolic strength of that
image is beyond measure.