In 2014 I had the opportunity to sail with friends from the tip of South America across the Drake Passage and down the Antarctic Peninsula. We were on a 75 foot sloop so we had a very close encounter with the land, the glaciers and the icebergs.
Once we got to Antarctica I realized that the icebergs were magnificent, epic in proportion, far more than I had expected to find. I initially thought I would convert everything to black-and-white since, after all, ice and snow are white while the sky, water and land vary in shades of gray. What could be better.
I immediately discovered that there is an incredible amount of color in Antarctica. The ice ranged from neon blue to turquoise. From pale tints to intensely saturated color. The only white was the new fallen snow. The land masses were black to rust red to ochre. Antarctica is a beautiful and colorful area.
I also was struck by how fragile the landscape was in Antarctica. So I chose to make portraits of the icebergs since soon they may not be around. I could not help but feeling that people who came after us might not get the opportunity to see these bergs or these glaciers and this landscape. It might have all melted away.
Back in Maine and after the printing the iceberg images, I was fortunate enough to have the work included in a number of exhibitions. The response people had up to the images was very heartfelt. I was told a grandfather, standing in front of one of my photographs with his grandson, had tears in his eyes as he told his grandson that he might not be able to ever see this landscape.
The link below will give you an account of my preparation leading up to our trip and our day by day experience while on the boat. Following that is my visit to Peru, Buenos Aires, returning to Portland Maine and ends with the first exhibition in 2017.
To retrace the steps of my adventure, please click
here