During the months of September and October in 2022, photographer Leonard Sussman embarked on a trip to the North Pole aboard the USCGC Healy icebreaker, alongside the ship’s crew and scientists. His new book ‘From Brooklyn to the North Pole’ highlights the visual aesthetics of the Arctic landscape, alongside the pivotal science and research work that goes into tackling the growing threat of climate change.
The expedition was part of a Synoptic Arctic Survey mission to the North Pole, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The SAS is a research-driven initiative, with aims to improve ongoing ocean monitoring with ship-based measurements to be able to establish the current state of the Arctic Ocean’s ecosystem, carbon cycle, and associated hydrography.
The USCGC, which is the United States largest icebreaker vessel, measuring in at a staggering 420 feet in length, left the Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands with the North Pole being its eventual destination. Sussman, who has amassed over 60 years’ worth of photographic experience, documented the entire journey.
The San Francisco born photographer’s best asset is his visualisation of a scene. Every image in his new book is captivating in its own distinct way, from breathtaking and atmospheric landscapes to intimate and minimalistic landscapes, to behind the scenes of both the crew and scientists at work, each image tells an important story that will leave you deep in thought. They reveal the complex task at hand and the tireless dedication and bravery needed to complete a research project of this magnitude, especially in otherworldly conditions.
This sentiment is echoed by MIT professor Rosalind Williams. “Many of his images show loss and emptiness, as it were (the lone polar bear loping over the ice). The images show not just the results of scientific studies but also the process of getting those results, which involves harsh and lonely conditions,” Williams said.
Not only do you get to admire the brilliant photography, Sussman has also included helpful definitions of the scientific processes which took place on the trip. Such as listing all the different kinds of ice and explaining the complexities of the research involved, regarding the effects of climate change. The photographer documents first-hand the impact that melting ice has on the surrounding landscape as well as the ecosystems.
I’ve picked out a quote from Sussman’s artist statement which perfectly depicts his methodology and photographic way of working within his new book.
“The challenge of photography is in seeing, feeling and transforming. How can I capture what it is that is essential to preserve? Though the process is affected by my reason, the more direct connection comes from experience and relationship to the places that I love. When working in the field, time disappears – hours seem to pass in minutes, keeping me in the present. It is a difficult, joyful and magical experience,” Sussman says.
The book is told through personal diary-style recollections from Sussman, these give you a fascinating insight into the day-by-day accounts of life on a research ship, as well as navigating a colossal vessel through this type of landscape.
“October 21, 2022, today the intense science of the past few days came to an end. Since then, we have been in rough seas with the ship rolling more than at any other time during our cruise. This evening, at about 11pm, the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis, was visible,” said Sussman.
This extract reveals the true extent of experiencing changing weather on an expedition of this scale, seeing nature at its most beautiful and its treacherous worst.
An important contribution to the book is by scientist and professor Laurie Juranek who provides an essay reflecting on the symbolism of the Arctic landscape. Referencing how climate change is not only just isolated to the poles, but it affects the entire planet as well.
“And while these changes are underway in remote regions, far from the collective consciousness and mostly not influencing daily lives at present, what happens in the Arctic will not stay in the Arctic. We must continue to tell the Arctic story – in images, in written word, in scientific charts and graphs – to ensure that we raise awareness of its plight, as its plight is our own,” Juranek says.
Sussman has produced an extraordinary body of work within a delightful hardcover book, highlighting a unique part of our world which is both mesmerising to the human eye and in great need of preserving for future generations.
The book Leonard Sussman From Brooklyn to the North Pole (ISBN-13: 9781954119543) is currently available to buy via Daylight Books for £46.
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