From Antarctica To Your Home

Some photographs are taken for a living, and others are taken because you happen to find yourself somewhere extraordinary, with a camera in your hands and a moment unfolding in front of you.

While Alex Correia doesn't dedicate his career to professional photography, it has been something that has followed him through his travels for more than a decade, taking him to some of the most remote corners of the earth.

His photographs have been exhibited and published, and some have even attracted the attention of National Geographic, but for Alex, photography has always been less about the recognition and more about capturing a moment, a place or an encounter that he could bring home with him.

Our Antarctica collection brings together photographs captured across Alex's multiple journeys through Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic, from wildlife encounters to vast, other-worldly landscapes. We wanted to know more about the experiences behind the images, and what it is like to photograph a place where so much is unexpected.

1. Was there a particular moment or trip that made you buy your first professional camera?

There wasn’t really one particular trip. I just knew that when I was approved for my first expedition down south, I wanted to have the photographs to go alongside the incredible stories I was going to experience on this mysterious ice continent.

It originally started as a simple desire to want to bring a little piece of Antarctica home with me, not just through stories, but through images that could capture what I had seen.

2. You've photographed wildlife and landscapes in some pretty extraordinary places. How different is it photographing animals in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic compared with photographing in other parts of the world?

I think the biggest difference is the abundance of incredible wildlife and the fact that so many of these animals are found only in these remote parts of the world.

The landscapes are also largely untouched by humans, which makes it possible to capture nature in its rawest form. Sometimes it was as simple as pointing the camera and shooting, there was very little that needed to be changed or edited because the environment and the animals were already so awe inspiring.

You could almost just let the camera show you what was really there.

3. How easy, or difficult, is it actually to photograph wildlife in those environments?

Oh, it can be really unpredictable - you might have an idea of what an animal is thinking or even try to anticipate how it's going to move, but more often than not, they have other plans.

That unpredictability though is actually one of the things I love most about wildlife photography, you can't control the situation, so you have to be ready for anything. Or sometimes nothing at all if they have chosen to sleep for the entire day!

Sometimes in those moments though, you end up with shots that are far better than anything you could have planned or anticipated.

4. Of all the places you've photographed, is there one experience that stands out above everything else? What happened?

One of my favourite moments happened at Casey Station in Antarctica during my second expedition.

We took some vehicles out to Robbos Hut, about 50 kilometres from the base, on what was really just a recreational trip to unwind. We headed out for a walk around the area, cameras in hand, and on the other side of the sea ice I noticed what looked like a larger-than-normal Adelie penguin.

We couldn't cross the ice to get any closer, so I was hopeful that the animals might be curious enough about us to come across.

Then, to my amazement, I saw an Emperor penguin with a small group of Adelie penguins sliding across the ice directly towards us. The Emperor stopped about two metres from me and stood up. For a moment, I completely forgot about the camera and just put it down to take in what was happening. 

It was my first time seeing an Emperor penguin, and they were an incredibly rare sight in that particular area of Antarctica. Eventually I picked up the camera and managed to capture some amazing photographs - which I still love to look at and be reminded of that experience, because it captured a moment that I know I will probably never experience in exactly the same way again.

5. What is it about photographing wildlife that keeps you coming back to it?

It originally started as something I did for fun. Like a lot of people who travel, I wanted to take photographs home to show my friends and family what I had seen, but then over time, I started associating memories with the photographs, and it grew into something much more meaningful.

Being around these animals is a real privilege. There is something special about being in an environment where wildlife has been so well preserved and where the animals can behave naturally around you.

I loved studying them, learning their personalities, mannerisms and behaviours, and trying to understand what they might do next. So photographing these particular creatures brings me a huge amount of joy, but more than that, it allowed me to preserve a moment and a memory that I can come back to years later.

6. How much patience is involved in getting the photograph you want?

A lot.

I remember trying to photograph a penguin jumping out of the water. It took around 45 minutes and more than 2,000 photographs just to get the shot I wanted.

And when I first started, I certainly didn't have an amazing camera. I just made do with what I had and learned to work with it. Patience is probably one of the most important things I've learned throughout my photography journey. The longer I spent on the continent, the more I realised that sometimes you just have to wait, and eventually, the right moment comes.

7. Do you generally go looking for a particular photograph, or do your best images tend to happen unexpectedly?

Almost everything was unexpected, especially down there.

I never really planned specific photographs because you honestly just can't. The environment could change completely within an hour. You could have a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky, and an hour later you could be caught in a huge blizzard.

My camera practically lived on my shoulder. Even if I went out and came back without taking a single photograph, I always had it with me because you never knew what was going to happen.

That unpredictability is what makes Antarctica so special. You have to be ready for the moment rather than trying to create it.

8. Your photographs have been exhibited, and National Geographic has even approached you about purchasing some of your work. What did that mean to you, particularly given photography isn't your profession?

It was a really special feeling to have some of my photographs published in a book. I suppose it meant that someone else saw something in those images that I had connected with myself.

When I first started taking photos, my goal was simply to bring them home for myself, my friends and my family, so I never really imagined that other people would want to see them. But ultimately, I'd love for more people to experience what Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands are really like through my photographs.

There is something about those places that is almost impossible to explain. They feel so remote and untouched that, in many ways, Antarctica is the closest feeling I think I'll ever have to being on another planet.

Explore all of Alex's Antarctica and Sub-Antarctic collection here.