crossing
My career has taken me to some of the most extraordinary places on earth, to capture imagery that would tell the stories of the brands that sent me there to capture such stories. In February of 2020, I set out again to aquire evidence of a brand’s promise. This time, it was for the brand Polar Latitudes, who has been doing expeditions to Antarctica for 10 years, bringing passengers to a place that will cause them to recognize a part of themselves they never knew existed, in a place that is like no other place on earth. I felt that when I set out on this journey, from the moment we left dock in Ushuaia, Argentina, to cross the great divide and the Drake Passage that separates our world from the most other-worldly natural place left.
Departure takes place in the evening. We will cross 670 nautical miles of sea, some of which passes through the most turbulent seas on earth. In the night, you can feel this sea rise and fall. The power is palpable. Yet your anticipation to cross into Antarctic waters, allays any concern you have for your own safety or your physical prowess to make the crossing. At dawn, when you have made it through the roughest seas, light reveals an ocean you have never crossed, or even dreamed of crossing. And then there is the appearance of a sea bird you have read about and perhaps seen images of in the pages of National Geographic. The Albatross. It circles your boat. It is one of the first appearances of Antarctica that you may confront, perhaps before you see your first iceberg. It’s as if they are satellite ambassadors to crossing the Antarctic circle, ushering you to a world you have never been and recruiting you to be an advocate of its preservation. It’s not a hard sell. You can feel a transformation happening within you. You are becoming a member of a very small portion of humanity that has been blessed to witness the wonders of this inner space of our earth. You have made the crossing over more than heavy seas. You have made the crossing to self. If there is any addiction that can improve our health, nourish our souls, and cause us to be an apostle for the preservation of such beauty, it’s this kind of engagement.
