Antarctica

To the casual observer, the Antarctic ice may look like a lifeless world of white with nothing but sky and frozen matter for months. At an average elevation of 12,000 feet, the visual monotony could seem underwhelming. To the contrary, Antarctica's ice sheet is a powerful entity, alive and dynamic. It is up to 3 million years old; its mass is constantly and unperceptively moving, finally calving to the sea.

Deep in the heart of the continent, it is the variations in cloud cover or the details of the terrain that provide Antarctica's unique photographic opportunity. The only features are ones left by the wind on the ice or the clouds in the sky. In contrast to the interior desert, the coast teems with life, indigenous and resilient to the harshest winters. It is the dominion of whales, birds, penguins, and seals, which evolved, until recently, outside of human contact. "My research there gave me a deeper perspective of the subtle variations taking place at the hands of climate change," says Copeland. "The images I bring back tell the story of a changing environment that spells the oncoming redrawing of the world's map, and all that it implicates."

About the Author

In 2017, Sebastian Copeland was named one of 25 of the world's top adventurers of the last 25 years. With approximately 5,000 miles under his skis in the polar regions, Copeland has led numerous expeditions to document the endangered ice, reaching both North and South Poles on foot. Noted as a photographer "who has produced works that are of outstanding artistic merit and communicate messages of urgent global significance," Copeland was twice named Photographer of the Year, in 2007 (IPA) and 2016 (TIFA). Copeland has addressed audiences at the UN, governments, universities, and many Fortune 500 companies warning of the systemic transformations taking place in the polar regions and their geopolitical consequences.

In 2019, Copeland was knighted by French President Emmanuel Macron in the National Order of Merit. He is a fellow of The Explorers Club and spent 15 years on the Board of President Gorbachev's NGO Global Green USA.