Midnight Sun at the Royal Geographical Society: A Launch to Remember
Some photographic projects are finished in a season. Others build slowly, over many journeys, until one day we find we have a body of work and a story to tell. Midnight Sun, our 208-page overview of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, belongs firmly to the second kind. On Tuesday 6th October, that journey' took Sue and I to the stage of the Ondaatje Theatre at the Royal Geographical Society, London. It felt a long way from the ice and cold.
The Making of the Book
The title refers to a phenomenon at the heart of polar life. Beyond the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, the summer sun does not set but circles the sky, and the light turns long, low and golden for hours at a time. It shapes the rhythm of everything that lives there, and it has shaped our approach to photographing these regions.Our book tries to hold both poles together in a single volume, so that the reader can feel what they share and what separates them. One is an ocean surrounded by continents, home to living cultures. The other is a continent surrounded by ocean, belonging, in a sense, to no one or everyone.
This project would have been out of reach without a remarkable team. Our designer, Simon Bishop, gave the book its look and its pacing, so that the pages breathe and the images arrive in the right order. Stephen Johnson prepared the images for both the book and the exhibition with great care and patience, and the printed result is true to what we saw. Karen Partridge guided us on the words that sit alongside our images. Months of close collaboration went into the finished object. We are enormously grateful to all three, and of course to our publisher, ACC Art Books.
An evening at the Royal Geographical Society
The Ondaatje Theatre carries a weight. Within its walls, explorers, scientists and storytellers have presented their findings to a Society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical knowledge. To step onto that stage before an audience of around 300 friends and invited guests was both humbling and thrilling. Jamie Owen of the RGS introduced us with great generosity, and we were touched by his kind words.
We were then joined in conversation by Sir Michael Palin, himself a former president of the Royal Geographical Society and a fellow traveller in the truest sense. Michael has stood at both ends of the earth, and his curiosity about people and places has long been an inspiration to us. He also has the gift of making a large room feel intimate. Nothing was scripted, and that was the pleasure of it.
We spoke about where our collaboration first began, about close encounters in the field, and about what we can learn from the communities of the far north, who have understood how to live with that landscape for generations. It is a lesson we keep returning to: knowledge of a place is built slowly, through perseverance. Michael moved between the serious and the humorous with a real deftness, and offered a few anecdotes of his own along the way. It felt less like a formal event than a conversation among friends, in a room full of friends. We very much hope everyone present felt the same.
Two Announcements
Two pieces of news were shared during the evening, and both mean a great deal to us personally.
The RGS Permanent Collection
Jamie Owen (above) announced, that evening, that our work is to be inducted into the Society's permanent collection. The RGS collection holds an extraordinary visual record of exploration, including the work of Frank Hurley and Herbert Ponting, whose photographs of the Endurance and Terra Nova expeditions shaped how the world imagined Antarctica. To see our images take a place alongside theirs is an honour we find hard to express. Photography has always been part of the story of polar exploration, and it is humbling to be counted, however modestly, as part of that continuing tradition.
A Campaign for the Southern Ocean.
We were also able to introduce our new project. Working together, alongside policy makers, scientists, photographers and filmmakers, to tell crucially important stories from the Antarctic. We aim to fuel the ongoing conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean, starting to help build a network of marine protected areas, to help give these threatened ecosystems the best chance of adapting to the rapid, and intensifying rate of change. This potentially would create the largest MPA in the world.
These waters are vital breeding grounds, and decisions about them are made through international negotiation, so progress depends on sustained, multinational effort. This is a long-term commitment, and a campaign to influence policy across the world will take persistence. After so many years of photographing these places, it feels right to put our work in the service of protecting them. A photograph does not argue, it asks people to look, and looking is where concern begins. Images can move people in ways that data alone cannot, and we hope ours can help build the public support needed.
The Map Room
Afterwards, guests joined us in the Map Room for canapés and drinks, and this was a highlight for us both. Friends had travelled from as far afield as Hawaii, Adelaide, Germany and the USA, among many other places, to be there. Thank you to everyone who made the journey, near or far. Your presence made the night.
The Exhibition
Guests could also view the accompanying exhibition of 50 images from Midnight Sun, which remains on display at the RGS Pavilion for one month, until 30 October. The gallery is light, airy and spacious, and it gives our work room to breathe. Each image has been beautifully prepared and framed by Genesis Imaging, and we are grateful for their craftsmanship. If you are interested in prints, please do get in touch.
With Thanks
A project of this scale depends on the generosity of others. Our sincere thanks go to Mr and Mrs Liem, to Dawn and Ian, to Emily Cook, The Royal Geographical Society (in particular Jamie Owen), to Wildfoot Travel, to MPB, to Salcombe Distilling Company whose New London Light makes the delicious Midnight Sun, and to Wex Photographic and Genesis Imaging. Your support made both the book and the exhibition possible.
Where to find the book
Proceeds from copies of Midnight Sun purchased through the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust website will support the charity's conservation work in Antarctica. If you would like a copy, buying it here means the book helps protect the places it celebrates, before the book officially comes out through the usual outlets in early 2027.
If you could not join us on the night, we hope you will visit the exhibition at the RGS Pavilion while it is on, and spend a little time with the images and pick up a copy of Midnight Sun. They represent years of work, and we would be delighted to hear what you think.
With warm wishes from cold places, Ian & Sue
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