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Hi Everyone!

Well as you can see from Anna's blog we made it back in one piece. It was a wonderful shoot and the weather was fantastic, bitterly cold, wet, blizzards, giant seas, amazingly icy winds, and even the odd bit of sun. I loved the tough conditions after-all who wants it easy! The wildlife was spectacular and the scale and beauty of the scenery was hard to imagine. The crew was fantastic and the fact that most of them had not been that far south before or to those sites, gave the trip a very real expeditionary feel.

I'd like to pass on my sincerest gratitude to Anna for not only being a fantastic assistant but also a wonderful travel companion and friend. Even when she was on death's door she still managed to crawl and find me to see if I needed anything. Anna very rapidly became an indispensable part of my working process and was always there when I needed her. She represented herself, Nomads and Geographic incredibly well, which is so crucial when there are other people involved. And, she worked very hard on her own photography. Most people don't realise how difficult it is to make a photographic essay in the field especially when one has such limited time.

Every day for me was always long 6.30am-2.30am so Anna really had her hands full. We were first on land and last off, and spent our water days with the crew and at least twice as much time in the cold and wet than anyone else. Even when she was blue Anna never complained or asked to be relieved. Well almost once, when she went to get out of the zodiac after a particularly brutal few hours getting smashed by icy waves and winds. Our expedition leader and I had a great laugh when she realised I wasn't getting out and she had to sit down again with a face and lips as blue as a Smurf's. Does anyone out there remember the Smurf's?!

Anna captured some wonderful portraits as well as really interesting landscapes. Lens limitations sometimes hampered Anna’s ability to get really close to wildlife but that was so for everyone on the boat. Although, I am certain many people would be cropping their images at the first opportunity!

As someone who spends so much time in the wilderness it was interesting to me, both on a photographic and psychological level, to see how a ‘portraitist’ would experience Antarctica. In Anna’s images there is definitely a mix of what she knew and what she now knows. As I stated in an earlier post my goal was not to turn Anna into a wildlife or landscape photographer, but to help her become a better photographer through experience, to see the world and her photography in a new way. I hope I have succeeded in some small way.

So very well done Anna!

JE

  Jason Edwards May 6, 2010 11:42 AM