A few characters

As a field biologist, I often said there was a reason I worked alone in the woods for so many years. Not quite a misanthrope, I don’t suffer fools lightly – though I spent many years as a fool myself, and fooling myself. Two weeks on a ship full of people from which your only escape is to get into a Zodiac with the same people and spend time on shore again with those same people, oh, that took some mental wrangling.

In the end, the people were as much a part of the success of this trip as the location. For someone who rarely takes photos of people, this group enthralled me. The crew each knew enough for twenty people. The crew and residents both were not diverse but rather were infinite in their stories, their articulation via a chosen medium, their creativity, and openness to the possibilities of art, design, expression, and life.

In the order taken

Sarah, the lead guide, and Nemo, the lead dog, above Esmarkbreen

Martina and Georgia attempt to see-saw

Lena blows bubbles

Max paints Arctic landscapes in the dining room

Max’s painting

Mario, the captain, with roasting fork out of hand, explaining the boat

Julie waves for the camera

Offer watches the sky from the Zodiac on deck

Dawn and Bonnie out of the wind against the wheelhouse