The Earth’s polar regions are some of the planet’s most fragile places.
The Arctic is warming twice as fast as anywhere else on Earth, and snow and ice cover are declining significantly. Part of Antarctica has warmed faster than anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere and wildlife has already been affected. As Antarctic sea ice has expanded in some areas, Arctic ice has seen a greater and record-breaking decline.
Amid these changes, photographer Camille Seaman traveled yearly to the Arctic and Antarctic for a decade, capturing the ice and stunning landscapes that define the regions. Her new book, Melting Away: A Ten-Year Journey through Our Endangered Polar Regions, is available now.
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I think that until we humans are able to really accept that we are not separate from nature — not above it, not meant to dominate or steward the land and the animals and the ocean — we really have no future on Earth. When I say I want to save the world, it’s not about making room for more of the same: exploitation, degradation, inequity, pollution and loss. I want to save as much of the natural world from us [humans] and our poor behavior. I want humans to realize that we are lessened by the loss of even a single species, a rainforest, the tundra, a pine grove.
I do what I do as an act of compulsion, because I feel I have to, not by force but more like drawing breath, with ease. I am not sure if my work has any effect. I am not sure if what I have spent so much of my time doing has any impact at all. I can only put it out there and let it be what it is. If people can hold their gaze on any of my images for a moment and have a feeling or a thought, maybe it is enough. Maybe that spark of a thought or feeling will grow into something greater. I do not underestimate the power of beauty and passion, the planet has that in spades. I just bring it to the viewer.
This interview was edited for length and clarity. Photos continue below.
