Antarctica
Black and white penguins, blue and white icebergs, pristine white snow and towering mountains of black rock, is it really necessary to bring color film to Antarctica? In fact, although the white continent may appear monochrome at first glance, every scene we encounter reveals subtle shades and hues not readily apparent to a casual observer. It might be the vibrant orange of a Gentoo Penguin’s bill or the softest sea green glowing from the ice cliffs in the evening. Coral pink touching the clouds at midnight, the gemlike aquamarine of the deep seas, bright red parkas strung like beads along a lonely grey beach, there are more and more to be discovered, the more you make the effort to really see.
But the Antarctic also has inescapable, in your face, super saturated color, vibrant hues in every shade of the rainbow, if only you know where to look. Hidden beneath the dark green swells, deep along the mountainsides that plunge into the depths of the sea, lies a world of beautiful, delicate animals whose strange shapes and jewel-like tones simply stagger the imagination. This seemingly inhospitable realm of dim light and freezing cold is truly the primary refuge of life here at the end of the world and by looking into it with our expedition technology we find ruby-red shrimp, golden sponges, blush-pink corals and anemones as bright as a tropical sunset.
These beautiful colors play many roles in the strange lives of these creatures. Bright primaries may warn of poisoned spines or toxic flesh, while more subtle shades and patterns conceal their wearers from other dangers. Stranger still, some beautiful shades in this dim realm may be only fortuitous accidents of chemistry. Many animals in the darkness of the deep sea manufacture brilliant compounds suited to other purposes, like the hemoglobin of our blood, whose beauty lies unappreciated until illuminated by our lights and recorded by our cameras.
The white continent is a wild place, in all the best senses of the word. Swept by storms, bathed in magical light, it is a mirror for those who learn how to look into it and discover the beauty within.
Black and white penguins, blue and white icebergs, pristine white snow and towering mountains of black rock, is it really necessary to bring color film to Antarctica? In fact, although the white continent may appear monochrome at first glance, every scene we encounter reveals subtle shades and hues not readily apparent to a casual observer. It might be the vibrant orange of a Gentoo Penguin’s bill or the softest sea green glowing from the ice cliffs in the evening. Coral pink touching the clouds at midnight, the gemlike aquamarine of the deep seas, bright red parkas strung like beads along a lonely grey beach, there are more and more to be discovered, the more you make the effort to really see.
But the Antarctic also has inescapable, in your face, super saturated color, vibrant hues in every shade of the rainbow, if only you know where to look. Hidden beneath the dark green swells, deep along the mountainsides that plunge into the depths of the sea, lies a world of beautiful, delicate animals whose strange shapes and jewel-like tones simply stagger the imagination. This seemingly inhospitable realm of dim light and freezing cold is truly the primary refuge of life here at the end of the world and by looking into it with our expedition technology we find ruby-red shrimp, golden sponges, blush-pink corals and anemones as bright as a tropical sunset.
These beautiful colors play many roles in the strange lives of these creatures. Bright primaries may warn of poisoned spines or toxic flesh, while more subtle shades and patterns conceal their wearers from other dangers. Stranger still, some beautiful shades in this dim realm may be only fortuitous accidents of chemistry. Many animals in the darkness of the deep sea manufacture brilliant compounds suited to other purposes, like the hemoglobin of our blood, whose beauty lies unappreciated until illuminated by our lights and recorded by our cameras.
The white continent is a wild place, in all the best senses of the word. Swept by storms, bathed in magical light, it is a mirror for those who learn how to look into it and discover the beauty within.
