Eight Hours for One Moment
Every expedition leaves you with memories, but every now and then there's one moment that stays with you forever. For me, it came after almost eight hours of waiting beside a towering iceberg in temperatures of around -30°C.
The first few days of the expedition were a shock. The cold wasn't just uncomfortable; it changed everything. Even opening a camera bag became painful. Simple tasks suddenly required planning, and every moment with bare hands felt painfully short.
The cold never became easy, but it became part of the experience. The Arctic has a way of stripping everything back to what really matters: patience, resilience, and the privilege of witnessing a place that still feels truly wild.
For almost eight hours, the polar bear rested on top of the iceberg, barely moving. It stood up only once, giving me just a few seconds to make a decision.
Rather than zooming in, I deliberately kept the bear small within the frame. I wanted the photograph to tell a story about scale rather than proximity.
The Arctic is often described as vast, but standing there made me realise just how overwhelming it really is. Even one of the world's largest predators can appear almost insignificant against the immensity of its own habitat.
Looking back, I remember surprisingly little of the cold itself. What stayed with me was the silence, the endless ice, and the privilege of spending time in one of the last truly wild places on Earth.
