From the Archive: Chinese Forecaster Portrait at Great Wall Station Antarctica

This weeks photo from the archive comes from the Great Wall Station, King George Island, Shetland Islands, Antarctica (phew…they have such long location names in Antarctica!).

Visiting an Antarctic station that doesn’t normally receive visitors is a big deal – I know because I’ve lived and worked at Antarctic stations and experienced first hand what it is like to have this huge influx of people into your life all of a sudden. While it can be a bit overwhelming, it can also be a pleasant change to the regular people you live with, day in and day out.

In this particular instance, I along with one other guide, took two zodiac loads of Chinese passengers from our ship, the Clipper Adventurer to the Great Wall Station for an afternoon visit. Great Wall Station isn’t used to visitors and the station staff do two-year stints, so let me tell you, they were pretty happy to see us!

So much so, they put on a big spread of afternoon tea and a tour of the station. Like our passengers, I find stations pretty interesting places. As a photographer, I always try and capture something about the place which sums up my experience.

In this instance, it was meeting this friendly young Chinese Weather Forecaster, who was on the last couple of months of a two-year stay. With excellent spoken English, he talked with me about his time on the ice and how much he was looking forward to going home.

Before we parted ways I asked if I could take a portrait. With a nod of approval I quickly found a prop – in this case the large carpeted wall with a picture of the Great Wall of China on it – and promptly asked my new friend to stand in front of it.

The result is this environmental portrait.

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