Svalbard - Spitsbergen

Step Of Giants

In frame, the students from the Arctic Nature guide of Svalbard leading an amazing expedition in early June 2021, crossing on the glacier tops, surrounded by some of the most amazing landscapes we can find on earth. Not everyone on this planet is lucky enough to live this kind of experience, and my love for photography comes from this; showing what some can never see... They look so soft, so white, and so smooth. When covered with snow, glaciers look so welcoming. An empty space asking to be discovered and explored; but what lays underneath can lead to serious danger. Glaciers are unstable and a lot of knowledge and confidence is needed to traverse from a place to another when walking on these hundred of meters thick ice.

A Wall Of Fog

A unique site captured during summer 2020. The fog accumulated due to the breaking record temperatures observed in July 2020 in Svalbard, in the high Arctic. It is mostly concentrated above the seawater, and dissipates once close to the glacier front as air temperatures decrease. Navigating in these conditions can be extremely hard due to growlers and bergy bits patrolling the Arctic waters. When we started the evening, we left town around 6.30 PM and a complete thick fog not able to see 50m ahead of us. I was guiding the whole evening tour in search of wildlife. On our way to the glacier front, we had the most amazing humpback whale accounter in the pitch special blind silence. An unforgatable story that I hope to tell you in person one day. We were able to locate this amazing female polar bear this same evening, at 11 pm, as she adventured swimming to the rocky island giving us incredible backlight and silhouette. It is hard to describe with words the feeling of seeing her owning the place, thinking that she has plain power, control of her area and great food supply here.. Nature is powerful.

On The Top

She is on top of the food chain, and shows it proudly, standing on the shoulders of the giants in the Arctic. Being able to observe her behavior, watching her movements, seeing her looking away, undisturbed, owning the glacier front; this is priceless. These are some of the best sightings I have had within my last 9 years of traveling the world. I am so much in love with this fragile environment, its biodiversity, and seeing it living with my own eyes everyday, being able to guide it, and show it to passionate people is the best reward I could ask for.

Minimalism In Shade

We are riding deeper through narrow V shaped valley, carved by river, with deep snow covered sides. The gracious shapes and lines that constitute this composition caught my attention straight on arrival. The correlation between these snow waves, the leading lines appearing from different depths are guiding your eyes through the frame, and the shadows casted on the hill sides enhance so well the subject. This shot on 55mm gets a little less crowded and more minimalistic compared to what i often shoot, but still brings full attention from every corner to the center.

Spiral Waves

Couple of weeks back, we had the chance to head down toward Hornsund, to the Polish Research Station, and pick up a few scientists in order to bring them back toward civilisation in Longyearbyen. The few hours spent on spot revealed untouched and incredible photography opportunities with multiples sea stacks at the entrance of the big fjord where waves are dancing. The Golden Spiral compo is here solid, from the soft coloured foreground, sea weed and water reflections, it leads your eye around toward that timed crashing wave.

Solitary Young

Wahlenbergbreen - Isfjord - Spitsbergen We slowly approached the ice front, looking for walruses or isolated seals when, in the far back, we found this young and lonely polar bear, walking in front of the Wahlenberg glacier. A moment like such is always so intense. From the instant we spot this yellow stain in the middle of the white snow, we feel this immense wave of excitement rushing through our body, thinking, we found a polar beast.

Trapped In Fast Ice

Mohnbukta - Eastcoast Spitsbergen This frozen ground allows us to travel in between these giant icebergs trapped in the ice. These huge chunks of ice calve from the glacier front, get transported away by the currents and the winds until winter comes and lock them in. They are incredible formations to witness from up close and are the perfect shelter for polar bears during windy and freezing days when the temperature can plummet under -40 degrees Celcius.

Landing To The Cabin

Located at the entrance of Isfjord, Tryghamna was frequently used as a safe harbor by whalers. It is an area really protected from the rough winds and swell coming from the open sea on the other side. The cultural heritage located there is unique as we can still find remains of the whaling era (17th century), and also Russian & Norwegian overwintering trapping (18th Century. In this photograph, we can see the Syssel Master Cabin at the entrance of the fjord. All the way to the end, we find the cold Kjerulf Glacier lit by the 11 PM Sun, at the end of July. This place is only accessible by boat, which makes it really unique. Wildlife thrives in huge numbers here and this time of the year is the best moment to admire one of the most powerful natural events that happen every year for only a day in Svalbard in the Alcidae bird kingdom.

Grounded Motions

When standing on a boat in motion, it is so hard to capture powerful leading lines and constructive compositions. It teaches me every day to be quick, creative, and reactive. We started this evening with about 500 meters of visibility, which can bring the mood down when starting, with low hopes for good shots.. but wait to be in front of the glacier. The landscape is moody, angry, and the ice is brutally blue; It feels like perfect hunting polar bear conditions.

The Union Of Fulmars

The union between Svalbard's landscape and its wildlife. Spending quality time facing the sandstone tops eroded by the harsh Arctic climate. Here, hundreds of birds have found a home. Fulmars are breeding and thriving on these faces, patrolling the skies, constantly being loud and alarmed. They also provide gigantic amount of nutriments down bellow on the steep high slopes, profitable for reindeers coming to feed on the flourishing tundra. How much more could you ask for? All is here in this one catch.

The Expedition

We engaged on a skiing expedition, traversing and camping on the tops of the glaciers for a few days. Not only the landscape was amazing, but I learned amazing skills and so much more about these giants of ice. In the frame, three students from the Outdoor Nature Guide School, who led this incredible expedition by blending great skills, knowledge, and fun. Capturing this kind of moment is unique but quite hard also. We are in polar bear land here, we cannot stay behind, alone, waiting for hours to grab the right light for a single shot. We stick to the group to assure safety, and it can be quite hard for someone who is used to patience.

Tough Wilderness

Nature in Svalbard can be really hard on animals. Environmental conditions are harsh, predators are everywhere, and finding food can be a daily duty for many animals. Reindeers are occupying the tundra landscape at the feet of the giant 4oom tall cliff of Alkhornet, at the entrance of Isfjorden's mouth. This cliffside is home to more than 20 000 pairs of birds, breeding happily. They produce great nutriments for the animals down below who feed on the flourishing tundra. Reindeer carcasses and skulls are found in this area. The chance of a bear killing a reindeer is quite low as they are way slower than them, overheat quickly, and burn much more energy. But the chances to find a polar bear feasting on a reindeer carcass is surely a common thing as they have an amazing sense of smell.

The Midnight Light

Summer in Svalbard can be really hard for landscape photography lovers as we have no blue hour or golden light for few months in summer. We might think it is not worth coming at this time of the year. This part of the planet is a jewel in itself. The light swings from a minute to another. I captured this moment when the sun was casting on this snowy mountain, at midnight, using the backlight to enhance these gracious shapes and curves. When we look at this untouched snow on the left side, we feel like we want to simply go and walk on it, to explore the area but we are on top of the glacier here, and crevasses can be hidden under snow bridges; this terrain can be really tricky and dangerous to venture on.

Ice Brutality

We found this day quite heavy and rough sea, big waves and swings on our way out. The wind was just gusting like crazy, and we took our adventure to the fronts of Borebreen, this amazing calving glacier. Hard conditions, but we found there some of the most majestic and dramatic light I have seen on Spitsbergen these last 3 and half months. This shot is full in sharpness, detailed light reflection on the towering ice.

Puffin Territory

Welcome to an environment where wildlife thrives in mass. We are here just visitors, breathing the same air as them, and sharing our time with such an incredible diversity of animals is priceless. Watching them everyday fighting for food, for love and caring about their next generations makes you realize..

Tarantula

/ LIMITED EDITION Print of 30 / Named after the shape of a tarantula, this rock formation Tarantellen is a unique sight in Spitsbergen. It was a long ride by snowmobile to reach this window view; Crossing glaciers, coastlines, sea ice, snowy valleys. The light I got was just insane, dark clouds in the background, and an unexpected gap casting that light from the side toward the mountain face.. right in front of "Tarantellen". The perfect moment to snap.

A Shiny Follower

A few hours ride along Spitsbergen to reach remote Pyramiden, an abandoned Russian coal mining settlement. The vibe we feel when putting our feet down there, is simply incredible. The pyramiden peak standing in front of us. Riding two bikes in early shiny morning, and cycling deeper in the valleys to explore further with the sun on our side and a curious arctic fox following our tracks. Good morning northern world !

Facing Craziness

Svalbard - Northernmost Norway Feel the mood of that capture. Facing nature and staring at the sun and these insane landscapes. This is the best way to enjoy isolation, and get your thoughts lost into the beauty of the North. On the moment I captured this shot, we could only hear the slight wind, and the few kittiwakes shouting over the ice and the edge of the cliff. A natural silence I cannot forget. I looked through my viewfinder, snapped the shot, and stared for a while at this human, facing some of the most magical views and light i have witnessed in Svalbard. Single shot on F11, i placed tiny human right in the center looking toward the light on the left. I know it is often better to give more space toward where the subject is looking, but i definitely found it more interesting this way.

Living Light Panorama

AWARDED BRONZE in EPSON international PANO AWARDS 2020 🥉 in Open Award Category Helvetiafjellet - Spitsbergen - What is better than panorama to show the potential of a landscape. Shot around midnight, the sun light casts from behind the mountains, leaving part of the relief into a contrast of pink light and blue shadows. The highest peak in the middle is Helvetiafjellet, rising at 1079m high. 📷 This panorama is composed of three shots on 55mm, and I really wanted to catch this pink-lit hill on the left to bring a great color palette through the whole frame.

Flintholmen Panorama

Here is an impressive panorama of Flintholmen. It is an island dominated by moraine ridges deposited by the glacier Sefströmbreen during a surge in 1896. The ice front moved all the way out, pushing upwards gigantic amount of sea bed sediments. We can now find on this area huge amount of little corals and small lakes surrounded by pointy spiky ridges. I have shot that one using 3 horizontal shots on a wide angle, each of the three shot in HDR to maximize details in shadows and highlights, and trust me, this has been a hell of a mission to put together and balance these blasting highlights with the sun in my face.

Glacial Grimaldi

/ LIMITED EDITION Print of 30 / Grimaldi Bukta - Prince Karl Forland During summer 2020, I have wandered the waters of Forlandsundet many times by boat, guiding nature trips to look for the amazing walrusses. Into this narrow channel, we have views on the amazing western side which looks so untouched and yet so wild. These towering claws are surrounded by dramatic and powerful glacier tongues. This day, the weather was rough and the mood was really dramatic, casting this crazy light over the ice.

Ragnar Ice Sphynx

Sfinksen - Ragnardalen - This one is a big one for me. A banger i had on my list for a long time thinking i could only catch that on the frozen lake of Baikal in Russia. I am here standing on fresh water, frozen solid coming from one of the numerous glacier tongues of Spitsbergen in Svalbard. This is one of my best moment here so far, this feeling of standing on see-through ice, bottom less, deep blue, white cracks. My playground. ❄ I decided to lead it on portrait to marry together this mountain shape and ice composition on the foreground. Focused stacked on 3 different points, the sharpness of the mountain peak, down to detailed air bubbles trapped in ice. More and more, I love shooting harder and more technical shots especially when the wind and the cold kicks in. Add to it the presence of eventual polar bear in the area, and the adrenalin is just full on.

Map Ice

The challenge of landscape photography in the far North. Finding some of the most amazing sight, and the cherry on the cake becomes four walruses sleeping on the sea ice, framed by these amazing mountain ranges and glacier fronts. It is sometimes hard not to focus on Wildlife photography up here. Walrus are incredible animals, almost useless on land but yet so agile in the water. Their comportment is amazing and so worth witnessing as you can really observe the way they communicate and speak to each other when they interact with humans. When they approach us, on the boat they sometimes get really curious, I mean, even too curious that we need to turn the engines back on before they puncture our rib boat with their giant 1-meter tusks.