AV News 175 - February 2009
Bill Bruce
Arctic Dreams
An icon of climate change - Polar Bear on an ice floe
A picture of a polar bear on an ice floe has become an icon of climate change
in the Arctic. My version (see Front Cover) was taken in August 2005 during an
11 day expedition cruise around the Svalbard archipelago. It had been an
exciting day involving tricky landings whilst visiting old Norwegian trapper
cabins on small islands off the coast of Edgeøya. By now it was about 2300 hrs
and at these high latitudes (77 deg N) there is no darkness. We were tired and
relaxing in the ship's lounge after dinner whilst the ship headed for the remote
island of Hopen (rarely visited because of very difficult landing conditions by
boat). Suddenly a voice exclaimed that there was a small ice floe far out on the
port side with a polar bear sitting on it. The immediate reaction was "Yes, yes,
you've had a little too much red wine with your dinner". However all sightings
have to be checked and sure enough there it was, a long way off, in the open
sea far from land.
Slowly the vessel was turned in the direction of the tiny floe, approaching
very slowly, keeping a good distance so as not to disturb it. An already heavily
overcast evening was becoming steadily darker as the clouds got lower and
visibility deteriorated. The poor light and the distance we were maintaining from
the floe meant that it was going to be a challenge to get good pictures using a
hand-held camera with a Minolta 100-400mm zoom lens at 400 mm, maximum
aperture and 400 ASA colour negative film. Soon we were all standing at the
ship's rail using a variety of photographic equipment ranging from small digital
pocket cameras to a professional cameraman for the Norwegian broadcasting
company NRK with his equipment.
The photographic session was memorable despite the poor light and lasted
well over an hour. It was a relatively young bear that entertained us with its
wonderful series of gymnastic moves on this tiny ice floe not much bigger than
itself. The picture can be interpreted in many ways and for many it is a symbol
of climate change in the Arctic and the threat it poses to the future of Ursus
maritimus, the King of the Arctic.
I hope you enjoyed my "Arctic Dreams" in Cirencester. Unfortunately I was
unable to attend so I missed the highlight of my photographic career! It would
have been very interesting to see the work of others and to discuss with them
and hear their points of view. I consider it to be quite an honour to have my work
reviewed and accepted by my peers. To be awarded such a high honour, Best
Photography in the RPS International is very satisfying, since it is on the basis
of many pictures and not just a single image. H