A POLAR BEAR’S FOOT<\/p>\n
PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n
There are some places on earth where the landscape seems too vast to photograph, where the horizon is broken only by mountains, sea ice and the occasional dark shape of an animal moving across the white. For Piet van den Bemd<\/a>, Svalbard is one of those places, and yet, after years spent travelling through the High Arctic, it\u2019s this vastness that keeps bringing him back.<\/p>\n PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND EXPEDITION LEADER, PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Van den Bemd is an expedition leader and professional wildlife photographer, whose work has appeared in nature documentaries, newspapers and scientific publications. Regularly working as a photography guide for Secret Atlas<\/a>, they describe his approach to photography as a combination of technical expertise, curiosity and a willingness to embrace the unknown. <\/p>\n But his relationship with the Arctic began long before photography became his profession. \u201cI think the inspiration has always been there,\u201d he says. He grew up travelling with his parents, while his father worked as a professional photographer. \u201cPhotography and exploring nature were part of my life from a very young age.\u201d<\/p>\n ARCTIC PATTERNS<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n The decisive moment came much later though, during an internship with a whale-watching company in Northern Norway. His job included photographing whale tails to identify individual animals and monitor their movements. Occasionally, one of his images would catch people\u2019s attention. \u201cEventually I sold my first image,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThat was when I started to realize that I could combine my passion for wildlife, photography and travelling into something more than just a hobby.\u201d That combination has since become, in his words, \u201ca total way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n THE BELUGA, OR WHITE WHALE, IS AN ARCTIC AND SUB-ARCTIC CETACEAN<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n THE ORCA, OR KILLER WHALE, IS A TOOTHED WHALE AND THE LARGET MEMBER OF THE OCEANIC DOLPHIN FAMILY<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Van den Bemd\u2019s fascination with the far north began when he was about six, on a trip to Swedish Lapland with his father. He remembers \u201cthe cold, the snow, the Northern Lights and those enormous, open landscapes.\u201d Living for years in Northern Norway deepened that connection, particularly the Arctic’s extraordinary seasons: the winter darkness and the seemingly endless light of summer. <\/p>\n Aerial view of Br\u00e5svellbreen at the Austfonna ice cap on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Aerial view of Br\u00e5svellbreen at the Austfonna ice cap on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Svalbard, however, had a particular pull. \u201cI always knew that further north was this incredible island called Svalbard. It kept drawing me in.\u201d In 2021, he began working there as a guide, and since then he\u2019s experienced the archipelago in radically different ways: from snowmobile journeys through the spring, to summer expeditions by ship. That variety is part of the attraction. \u201cIt constantly offers you a completely different world to discover,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Aerial view of Br\u00e5svellbreen at the Austfonna ice cap on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n The Arctic is also a world in flux, and van den Bemd is careful not to present personal observations as scientific conclusions. Yet some changes are difficult to miss. \u201cGlaciers are retreating, winters are becoming shorter, and the period of snow and ice is changing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe also seem to experience increasingly unusual and sometimes quite extreme weather conditions.\u201d Perhaps most striking, he says, is the speed of the transformation: \u201cPlaces that looked completely different a few years ago can now be noticeably altered.\u201d<\/p>\n GLACIAL MORAINE IN SOUTHERN SVALBARD<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n For a photographer, however, the Arctic is never simply a story about environmental change. It\u2019s a place of extraordinary encounters, and the polar bear remains his favorite subject. \u201cBoth polar bears and orcas are top predators, strong, intelligent and incredibly adaptable,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve evolved to survive in some of the most extreme environments on our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n A BATTLE TO THE DEATH BETWEEN A POLAR BEAR AND A WALRUS<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n A POLAR BEAR AND A WALRUS IN A BATTLE TO THE DEATH<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Spend enough time watching an individual animal, he says, and \u201cYou start to see its character\u2026 you\u2019re not just documenting a species anymore, you\u2019re getting to know a particular animal, its behavior and its personality.\u201d One encounter brought that reality into sharp focus: a polar bear hunting a sub-adult walrus in the water. The struggle lasted almost two hours. \u201cIt was probably the most raw and intense wildlife experience I have ever witnessed,\u201d van den Bemd says. \u201cThere was nothing staged or predictable about it, simply two powerful animals in a fight for survival.\u201d<\/p>\n A MOTHER POLAR BEAR AND HER SHY CUB<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n A MOTHER POLAR BEAR AND HER YOUNG CUB<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Yet, some of his most meaningful photographs are quieter. He remembers watching a mother polar bear with a cub only a few months old on the frozen ocean. The tiny animal played and explored, apparently encountering humans for perhaps the first time. \u201cIt was fascinating to watch,\u201d he says. \u201cThere was something incredibly pure and balanced about that moment; the mother, the cub, the frozen ocean and this natural curiosity between us.\u201d<\/p>\n A POLAR BEAR ON THE PACK ICE<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Such moments require patience, something van den Bemd admits does not come naturally to him. \u201cIn my everyday life I have very little patience,\u201d he says. \u201cI am often rushing around, wanting to do more and more. But as soon as I am out photographing wildlife, something changes.\u201d<\/p>\n SPENDING THE PANDEMIC PHOTOGRAPHING WOLVES (AND BEARS) IN FINLAND<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n During the pandemic, he spent days alone in small hides in eastern Finland photographing bears and wolves. The experience taught him something that now informs his Arctic work: \u201cPatience is not really about waiting for something to happen. It is about being comfortable with the waiting itself.\u201d And then, sometimes, nature delivers. The challenge is accepting that it may not. Van den Bemd often imagines an image long before he presses the shutter. But \u201cnature does what nature does.\u201d Wildlife moves unexpectedly. Light changes. A fleeting opportunity disappears. \u201cYou cannot control nature, so you have to be flexible, react quickly and be creative with whatever you have in front of you.\u201d<\/p>\n A BEARDED SEAL ON ICE<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n FIGHTING REINDEER, ALKHORNET, SVALBARD<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Indeed, some of his favorite photographs are the ones he never managed to take. \u201cThey are still out there somewhere,\u201d he says. \u201cPerhaps that is what keeps me going, knowing that the next opportunity could be the one you have been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n A CURIOUS ARCTIC FOX<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n A CURIOUS ARCTIC FOX INVESTIGATES A CAMERA LENS<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n That sense of possibility runs through his photography. For van den Bemd, the ultimate purpose goes beyond producing spectacular pictures. He wants viewers to connect with the animals and landscapes he encounters, and through that connection, to care about what happens to them. \u201cI believe awareness is where change begins,\u201d he says. \u201cIf people can connect with a polar bear, a landscape or a moment through one of my photographs, perhaps they will become a little more curious, a little more aware of the world around them and ultimately more motivated to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n A WALRUS TRYING TO GET A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n A WALRUS, CHILLING ON THE ICE<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMD<\/p>\n Piet Van den Bemd doesn\u2019t want photography to dictate what people should think. \u201cFor me, photography is not about telling people what to think or feel,\u201d he says, \u201cIt\u2019s about showing them something worth caring about.\u201d<\/p>\n POLAR BEAR<\/p>\n PIET VAN DEN BEMDMaking Polar Travel Easier<\/p>\n