Kaktovik, Alaska 2016

Whilst this powerful vignette is unusual for me, I hope that those who know my mind well, will guess that I have taken it. If so, that would be very gratifying, because I want to be understood just as much as I want to be collected. I have never used street lights, buildings and telegraph poles as part of any “non-staged” narrative before, but their inclusion in this image deliberately suggests an imminent and unwelcome encroachment into mundane village life by the most dangerous of predators on the planet. The picture was preconceived in London. I think the human detail does not only complement the bear, it makes the photograph relevant. Relevance is a big word for me on my journey.

The reality is that communities such as Barrow, Prudhoe Bay and Kaktovik in Alaska and also Churchill in Canada are accustomed to the daily presence of polar bears until the adjacent sea water freezes in the autumn. The cohabitation is a surreal situation – perhaps without equal on the planet. The end of the seasonal tenancy of the bears is being pushed out over time as a result of global warming and the villagers in these remote outposts have accepted white bears as a way of life.

Ironically, it is around Halloween that polar bear activity around these villages peaks. Every night sirens go off and gun shots are fired by vigilantes patrolling the modest grid street plans. The record number of bears counted around Kaktovik (the location of this image) at this time of year is recorded as a jaw dropping “90”.

I have come to the safe conclusion that the Inuit elders from the coastal villages of the Beaufort Sea know all there is to know about polar bears. Their words are not words for “fast food” documentary television – they just say it as it is – it is their life. They respect the bears more than fear them and don’t just tolerate their presence – they admire their presence. The Inuit way of life is under just as much pressure as the polar bear way of life – after all, both are victims of our warming planet. I sense a solidarity born out of a common environmental enemy. The polar bears in these coastal communities are – in the main – not malnourished. Indeed, look at the size of this female – she must weight all of 1,200 pounds – seven times the average man. Her positioning just before sunrise was integral to the strength of the image and sunrise up there at Halloween time is around 9.30 am. These are short days.

Not all polar bears are starving – trust me – this assignment was not my first rodeo in the arctic. Polar bears can still be imperious, magnificent and sovereign. This one most certainly is. I am very tough on myself, but I know that “My place or yours?” is a special picture and I get quite emotional just looking at it.

Kaktovik, Alaska – 2016

It is a rare privilege to get close enough to a polar bear to take an image as intimate as this and even rarer to get close to two adults. The photograph was taken in October 2016 on the North Slope of Alaska – the best place in the world to study polar bears in their natural habitat. It is a hard destination to get to and does not readily cater for visitors. More importantly it is not well regulated – this makes it an ideal location for my approach to immersive photography – which leans on transgressive practices such as getting close to danger.

In order to get my eye line below or level with the bears, I had to be lying on the ground with my Inuit fixer and his vehicle right behind me. The closest he was prepared to go was 20 feet away – though on this occasion, the lead bear looked a little more interested in taking a mid afternoon nap, than attacking a human.

Indeed, moments after I had positioned myself, the bear arched her back and rubbed her face on the ice – just like a human having a stretch and a yawn. It was that familiar “Monday morning” feeling. I am often reminded that animal behaviour – even with alpha predators like Polar Bears – can be remarkably similar to humans.

I think this is a unique shot and there is a gratifying amount of detail.

Svalbard, Norway 2017

This was not a normal Thursday morning and the adrenaline was high throughout this brief encounter a day’s sailing south of Longyearbyen in Svalbard. This was a seriously big bear.

As with all head on images of alpha predators like this – three factors are key to making the depiction as visually powerful as the reality. The first is that my angle must be ground up – there is no other way. the second factor is that irrespective of the rush of being so close to the ultimate predator, there can be no margin of error in the focus around his eyes. An inch out either way and the image is toast. Thirdly there must be movement to convey the sense of threat.

So all requirements were accomplished and we imposed ourselves rather than letting the situation dictate. In retrospect, the beauty of this enormous bear was an added bonus – he had just made a kill and had been in the water. This lent some textural beauty to his coat. It all came together in a split second – but that is the essence of photography.

I have looked back at my first efforts with polar bears and compared them to this powerful image. It has been a long journey of disappointment, discovery and then finally delivery. What an adrenaline rush.

Svalbard, Norway 2017

What adjectives best describe an adult male polar bear? This question is often the start of a cognitive process that bends back and prompts me in my deliberations as to how to take an animal’s portrait in a way that does it justice. There is process in the preconception of ideas because ideally, I want to convey the most considered of these adjectives in my photography. I am sensitive to the need to deliver with a portrait, as I am all too aware that wildlife photography can be dull, when at best it must be creative and evocative.

Polar bears are certainly big and dangerous. But they are more than that – they sit at the top of the food chain at the top of the world. Inevitably, imagery of polar bears is often used to endorse and emphasize the cold but great photographs of this alpha mammal should also surely convey majesty and sovereignty. Of all the predators on our planet – including the lion – it is the polar bear that I find the most regal. That was the prompt in my preconception – I needed to home in on the majesty of the polar bear.

To do this well requires a special image – there is no room for anything other than intimacy and crystal sharp focus against a perfect backdrop. Svalbard is no “studio” – it is the wild and this goes some way to explaining why this image was preceded by five years of failure. The bear’s distinctive Roman nose is best captured with the mammal perpendicular to the camera with his head raised.

I wanted an image that celebrates the life of the Emperor of the North – there is no appetite on my part to deliver another hackneyed image documenting global warming. The polar bear should never be regarded as ordinary or familiar – because it is neither. That gorgeous summer’s day, I shot almost directly into the sun and the glittering sea is apposite – this is a celebration of the glory of planet earth and the polar bear’s position at its summit. He is the Emperor of the North and the star of this image. I was just a bystander with a decent camera.

Alaska, 2018

This photograph – taken high up on the North Slope of Alaska on Thursday morning – is special for us. It is a photograph I have always aspired to take. The best pictures can never be retaken.

There were two or three key elements to its capture. Firstly, because the physical enormity of an adult bear is best conveyed head on and from low on the ground, we had to try and find a position where the terrain offered a horizon and an incline between me and the bear. The second and more important dynamic was to use the 25 mph wind to our favour.

Bears can smell us from a long way away so long as they are downwind. Then of course – the overriding factor – was our safety. At all times we had to have an escape route. We knew what to do here and I had the best Inuit guide in the area. I felt safe with him, but please do not try this at home.

This bear is enormous and my positioning shows that off. It was all over in maybe five seconds – but I will never forget them.

People understandably worry about polar bear numbers – but be assured there is a load of big healthy bears on the North Slope. I think we saw over 25 in a week.

Pryramiden, Svalbard 2019

I know Pyramiden quite well – I have visited 4 times. It is a largely abandoned Russian mining town that sits at 78.2 degrees north – making it the most northerly community in the world. Only six people now live there full time, but it remains a ghostly reminder of the USSR. Soviet culture, architecture and politics permeate the town, from the block-style housing to the bust of Lenin—the world’s northernmost statue of that communist revolutionary— which gazes down, fatherly and proud, on Pyramiden’s main square.

I have always wanted to get a big photograph of this creepy place, but I needed winter, winds and a palpable sense of the frozen north. This is not a place to photograph in the summer. Most of all I needed a polar bear. In early spring 2019, I had my moment.

There is enough detail in the background layer of this photograph to make out factory buildings, chimneys, carts and tracks and indeed a disused mineshaft. The light was kind and the wind ferocious. With the wind chill, this was as cold as I can remember working with a camera. I had to wear one glove and manual focus was not easy. This was not a time to use autofocus on that bear – not with the wind and medley of whites.

The photograph is indeed a big photograph – bigger than I could have possibly wished for. There is a large amount of luck involved as the adult female bear came into town at the perfect time – one of just 5 adult bears we saw in Svalbard that week.

This is the land of norse legends, myths and fables. The photograph is so visually detached from our day to day experiences that it looks like a fairytale or a painting. This is surely my Game of Thrones moment and now I have seen what is North of the Wall.

This photograph was taken whilst leading an assignment with @naturalworldsafaris – a special thank you to the brilliant team there for organizing the adventure.