Impressions from Patagonia, May 2024

There is only one place in the world where pumas, aka mountain lions, have become habituated to the point that it is possible to track them on foot. In May I took a small group of photographers to Patagonia where we spent six days tracking these elusive cats, with two expert guides and Torres del Paine National Park as our backdrop.

Here are some of my favorite images created by our participants. We hope you like the results too!

We are planning to return with another small group in 2025. Contact us for details and check out our events page for more information on upcoming travel, workshops and online courses. You may also sign up for our mailing list to receive event information by email.

Impressions from Alaska, August 2024

Freezing Moments:  Antarctica Revisited
by Frans Lanting
 
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated 1914-1916 Antarctic expedition is regarded as one of the greatest exploration epics of all time–but the work of the expedition’s photographer, Frank Hurley, deserves a similar place in the annals of heroic photojournalism.  Hurley immortalized the journey with flawless photographs produced under brutal conditions.  When ice crushed their ship, Shackleton and his men offloaded supplies for a bitter trek across the frozen Weddell Sea.  Hurley had to leave most of his exposed glass plates behind.  He kept only a handful, along with a pocket camera and a few rolls of film to document the remainder of the expedition–a saga of hunger, frostbite, and near-disasters.  Despite his deprivations Hurley recorded a pivotal event:  With his entire crew stranded on a remote island with no hope of rescue, Shackleton and five men set off to find help on South Georgia–a journey against all odds across 800 miles of  treacherous seas.  As they pushed the sloop into the surf, Hurley captured the desperation of that moment–without the luxury of bracketing or rethinking. 
 
I located Hurley’s negatives and commissioned new prints of his classic images as part of a story about South Georgia.  My intent was to incorporate them into a contemporary scene as a tribute to Hurley.  While on assignment I made an unplanned landing on the very beach from which Hurley had recorded Shackleton’s daring departure.  I came ashore with passengers from a cruise ship, and just as they were struggling back to their zodiac, I found the spot where Hurley had stood.  A companion with tattered gloves held up the print, allowing an ultra-wide-angle lens with maximized depth of field to record a scene in which the straightforward black-and-white bravery of the past is contrasted with the multi-colored ambiguity of travel today–and only the landscape itself remains the same.   
 
Photo by @FransLanting

Bonobos are the least known of all the great apes and eerily close to us. When one looks you in the eyes like this male did, the boundaries between us and them become blurry. I’m back in the Congo to explore the world of bonobos. We are joined for this exciting expedition by Ashley Judd who is just as keen as Chris Eckstrom and I are to elevate the profile of bonobos and to support the people who care about them. This is among one of my favorite new images I made at Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary. There will be more images to come after we return from the heart of the Congo. Stay tuned!

Baby bonobos are transported to the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary as traumatized orphans when their mothers are killed by poachers for bush meat. The infant bonobos cling to their dead mothers until they are removed and eventually sold for the pet trade—babies are too small to be valuable for meat.

Lola ya Bonobo has an astonishing team of bonobo “mamas” who act as substitute mothers to the orphan babies. They nurture them like their own children and slowly rebuild their psychological strength. As infants, the baby bonobos become firmly attached to their adopted mamas, and will only trust people who are trusted by their mamas.

I was privileged to spend time in the past few days with three remarkable bonobo mamas and their orphan babies, and my heart melted when one young bonobo, Bikoro, gave me his trust and crawled up into my arms. The emotion I felt is indescribable.

We encourage you to lend your support to the people who are working to secure a future for bonobos in the wild—it’s a big challenge, but it’s possible.

Follow us on Instagram.com @FransLanting and @ChristineEckstrom as we embark on an expedition with @Ashley_Judd to document bonobos in the wild in the heart of the Congo—their only home in the world.