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PHOTOGRAPHS BY ESTHER HORVATH
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By Whitney Johnson, Director of Visual and Immersive Experiences
Her out-of-office email reads, “I am traveling between the two poles for scientific expeditions and have very limited or no access to email.”
Such is life for photographer Esther Horvath, who has been on more than a dozen polar missions to document scientists working to better understand the changing polar regions. She has photographed researchers prepping to be trapped in Arctic ice for a year, a science base where life is anything but lonely; and observed how to grow plants in space by visiting the coldest place on Earth.
Most recently, she was aboard the icebreaker (pictured above) off Antarctica that dramatically discovered Ernest Shackleton’s pioneering polar vessel last weekend, entombed two miles below the icy surface.
Work near the poles is hard. Negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit and 24 hours of darkness make using her cameras and lights difficult, and the crew is always on guard for polar bears.
“Respecting their place,” as Esther puts it, “and keeping them and us safe.”
Despite the challenges, each expedition pushes Esther to be present and open to the idea that you may “not be able to plan everything as wanted.” A good lesson for a photographer; a great lesson for us all.
And always, the pull of poles is strong: “My body is back to civilization while my mind is still floating on a cloud of incredible memories, made in the polar darkness on the frozen ocean.”
Read the full story about the discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance here—and watch exclusive video. Below, see Esther’s work on previous expeditions.
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