How did Fredrik and Melissa originally get started with photography?
Melissa started with photography as a child. From the beginning trying to find odd angles, making a building look like a flower or capture the sunset through a glass of soda. She was always trying to make the camera see what she saw with her eyes. In her teens she began focusing on portrait photography, mostly of herself. Not like the selfies of today’s social media, but more artistic, sometimes dark, sometimes funny. She used her camera to see herself, to change herself with light and editing. For some time, she wanted to be someone else, and the camera allowed her that. A part of selftherapy if you will. Now she can give the animals she loves the most, a voice with her camera.
Fredrik was working with design and communication before he came to the Arctic and realized that it was a part of the world that needed attention, and that at the time, the visual storytelling from the region was limited .
How long have you been traveling to Svalbard and what first attracted you to the area?
Fredrik has been working around Svalbard for the last 15 years and since the last three years he works together with Melissa Schäfer in the Arctic. He came to Svalbard almost by accident and immediately fell in love with its extreme wilderness.
Melissa loved Polar Bears since she was a little kid. She watched documentaries with her father about the arctic and the Polar Bear. For her friends she was always the Polar Bear girl, but no one ever thought that she would turn that love to her work and passion. Before she stepped out of the plane, she loved the Arctic, and since three years she works as a photographer with bears out on the sea ice.
What do you love about photographing Polar Bears? What was your first and most memorable encounter with a Polar Bear?
It’s not just about photographing Polar Bears, it’s about the life in the Arctic. It’s about the journey to the bears and the moment you meet them. We love to be out on the Arctic pack ice, just the two of us, surrounded by snow and just the wind. It’s like being on a different planet.
Photographing Polar Bears is extreme, it fills you with adrenaline, sometimes fear, but always respect and most importantly love.
Helen was a very curious young female bear. She approached us from far away on the sea ice and stopped just a 100 meters away at a beautiful ice berg. She climbed it, played around in the most relaxed way for a long time. It also resulted in the photos we hold most close to our hearts.
Just how dangerous are Polar Bears?
The Polar Bear is the most dangerous land living predator on Earth, if we count ice as land. A large male weighs around 700-800 kg and can measure over three meters in length, females are about half that size. And it is fast, when it attacks it can reach speeds of over 40 km/hr. But what makes it so powerful is how extremely well it has adapted to the world of ice it lives in. Food is very sparse, and the Polar Bear has to be the perfect hunter. It is extremely intelligent and has a sense of smell that can detect anything that sticks out from several miles away.
How does climate change affect Polar Bears? Did you imagine Polar Bears would be such a crucial species in terms of climate change?
The Polar Bear is completely dependent on sea ice to thrive and survive. No ice means no Polar Bears, it is as simple as that.
The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. The melting of the ice also has implications for all of us, since the two poles, all the ice and all the snow, work as our planet’s air conditioner. When this disappears, weather systems and ocean currents are placed out of order, resulting in more extreme and unpredictable weather, as well as rising sea levels. What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic.
Can you give us your impressions when you first saw Polar Bears without their usual natural habitat?
The period without sea ice becomes longer every year. In spring, when the sea ice breaks up, and the ice edge recedes north towards the North Pole, many bears become stranded on land. There they are left eating nothing, or very little, until the next winter brings new ice. In some areas this period can be as long as seven to eight months.
It becomes more and more common for us to meet stranded bears, and bears in poor condition. Even with good conditions, the life for a Polar Bear is harsh, and food far and between. Every degree of warming, every ounce of ice lost, makes the life more difficult.
What is the status of Polar Bear populations today? Do you think Polar Bears will be able to adapt to climate change?
The Polar Bear populations are starting to show decline in some areas, while it is still stable in others. But we are very close to a tipping point, when their habitat simply disappears. That makes it different from other species losing habitat which slightly degrades. If we reach this tipping point, populations will drop quickly. That tipping point is simple to define: when ice becomes water.
The Polar Bear is believed to have evolved from a group of brown bears who became isolated some 150,000 years ago. They slowly adapted to colder conditions and new ice. The difference now is that the changes are happening too fast. The Polar Bear as a species is defined as living on the ice. When the ice is gone, the Polar Bear has nowhere to go.
What sort of equipment do you need to take on an Arctic shoot? Do you need a lot of specialized kit?
Planning and preparing a long winter expedition takes months. Our field gear includes hundreds of items. Snow mobiles, clothing, safety equipment, weapons, communications, tents, kitchen, navigation and many other things. And of course the camera gear.
When it comes to cameras we try to keep it tight. Two houses with two lenses. One normal zoom, and one tele zoom. The main reason for this is that working on the ice often makes it hard to deal with changing lenses and dealing with small gear, settings, buttons etc. We also try to be “small” so we are allowed close to the bears. The smaller, the better, and less disturbing.
What are your tips to those thinking of doing an Arctic expedition for the first time?
It takes years of experience working alone in the Arctic, so coming there for the first time demands a guide, or organized trip. There are snowmobile rides in the winter, as well as hiking and boat cruises in the spring or summer.
And once out there it is important to bring respect and humbleness. It is also important to visit the Arctic for the right reasons. For the love and interest in nature, and the wild environment. Polar Bears are just a part of it.
Can you tell us about the expedition ships?
There are many different ones. From the big operators, like Quark, Hurtigruten and Lindblad, who have ships with 100- 200 guests, to the smaller vessels. We charter a ship named MS Freya every spring, where we take only 18 guests. On the ship we have small rubber boats, zodiaks, which we use when we want to get closer to something, a beautiful ice berg, a walrus colony or perhaps a Polar Bear. The main difference between the big and the small ships is that on the small ones you get more intimate with the surroundings, and better possibilities of getting close to the nature and wildlife. The big ships, on the other hand, often offer a higher level of luxury and comfort.
What advice can you share on shooting in the snow and cold?
The camera equipment handles the cold very well. The important thing is taking care of the batteries, which wear out quickly in the cold. We always wear the batteries close to our bodies, we even sleep with them, and only put them in the cameras when we take photos. The other issue is condensation. Bringing cameras and lenses back and forth from cold to warm generates moisture, which freezes to ice when they’re brought back out. So we always leave all camera gear, except batteries and memory cards, outside in the cold.
Your big goal yet to achieve? Your “I wish” moment?
We want people to care. Through the years, the distance between people and nature as increased. A couple of hundred years ago we were all part of nature. Now we’ve moved to cities, order pizza to the door, watch Netflix and have the entire world in our smartphones. We’ve disconnected from nature, and it’s become something we watch on TV, or perhaps plan a vacation to. Like most other nature- and wildlife photographers, we want people to connect, or reconnect, with nature, and what is truly important. We all need to realize that this planet is our only home. If we destroy this, we have nowhere else to go.
That is our main goal. If we can touch the heart of one person out there, and make her or him care, then we have succeeded.
What’s the image you’re most proud of? What’s the story behind it?
We hope to speak to people’s hearts and feelings. The Arctic world of ice is something very extreme, almost abstract, to many people. We hope to make it real, to put the person viewing our photos and stories on the ice. Feel the cold, and maybe even smell the breath of the Polar Bear.
What is it about photography that helps illustrate your message so effectively? What do you hope people take away from viewing your images?
We hope to speak to people’s hearts and feelings. The Arctic world of ice is something very extreme, almost abstract, to many people. We hope to make it real, to put the person viewing our photos and stories on the ice. Feel the cold, and maybe even smell the breath of the Polar Bear.
What would you say to people who don’t believe in climate change?
Educate yourself. It is easy. There are many resources online. Climate change caused by humans is a fact. Not a political issue or an opinion. Anyone who doubts the power of us changing our climate should take a very close look at the world of the Polar Bear. It is disappearing.
What are your plans for the immediate future, any big upcoming projects?
We are currently finishing our first book together, titled “Frozen”. It is a large format book about life in the Arctic, seen through our eyes, and the eyes of the Polar Bear. It will be published worldwide in October 2019. We are also preparing for a new winter on Svalbard with our dear Polar Bears. We will be working in the field from February to May. Can’t wait to head back north! A big part of us belongs there.
