Antarctic Wilderness: South Georgia • Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson

I don’t actually have that many photo books on my shelf. Given that I’m very enthusiastic about photography, that may seem a bit odd, but I’m also at home on the internet, where there’s a wealth of wonderful galleries. So a book has to be something special, offer a truly unique perspective, and impress through its overall composition. This photo book is such a collection of photographs—something truly special, as I noticed right on the first flip-through.

When I first hear “South Georgia,” I don’t immediately think of Antarctica—until I quickly realized it wasn’t the south of Georgia, but rather the island of South Georgia (more information on Wikipedia), located off the east coast of South America and near the Falkland Islands. So it’s not a place like Iceland or Ireland—islands that have been photographed countless times and about which numerous books already exist.

The married couple Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson spent 26 months—two winters—on this lonely island in their wooden sailboat, just nine meters long, immersing themselves in the wonderful landscape and the rich diversity of wildlife that this small Antarctic oasis offers. One photo of the little cabin of their boat, “Wanderer III,” looks super cozy and inviting, and you can easily imagine how the two of them braved the harsh weather there.

South Georgia is richly blessed in terms of its wildlife, which is immediately apparent in this book. Watching king penguins, wandering albatrosses, leopard seals, Antarctic terns, elephant seals, fur seals, and many other species is described both in images and in the accompanying texts, which reflect on these encounters. Kicki and Thies alternate in their diary-like accounts. You learn, for instance, that they were married there and celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary on South Georgia. The many personal descriptions, in combination with the images, give a vivid impression of what life must be like in this beautiful place.

Penguins hopped, thousands of birds floated; around us, ice chunks calved from glaciers danced. And what then unveiled itself before us—this iced and snow-covered mountain chain of a maritime Himalaya, crystal-blue above the 3,000-meter peaks, the coastal strip a lush green—was so grand, so immense, so dazzling: South Georgia burst into our lives—like an imprint. (p. 17)

The book is enriched with numerous striking landscape photographs that beautifully capture a typically Arctic (Antarctic, here) mood and convey those very special qualities of light. What I like best aren’t the extremes—the heaving sea or the completely snow-blanketed mountain ranges—but rather the images of native birds or seals taken in the atmospheric glow of the polar midday sun. The impressive mountain backdrops are ever-present, sometimes with lovely light effects caused by clouds that only partly veil the sky. The sea is always there, and this wildlife paradise is almost always inhabited.

A large portion of the book is dedicated to the king penguins. Many photographs show them at their rookeries, incubating their eggs on the coast, surrounded by an endless expanse of white. Sometimes it looks quite surreal—these masses of penguins in the empty infinity by the sea. One very beautiful quote that stuck with me shows how often the authors find the right words (even if, in many places, I found them a bit too grandiloquent):

1976: four billion people when I finished high school.
1987: five billion people when I sailed away from Europe.
1999: six billion people when we married on South Georgia.
2009: seven billion people—and we are here alone. (p. 22)

While the images are truly worth seeing, I’m personally more captivated by powerful landscape shots than by close-ups of animals. If it were up to me, I would have liked to see even more of those green coastal strips in summer.

You’ll also see old whaling harbors. In the first half of the 20th century, stocks were heavily plundered and depleted there. The images of the dilapidated buildings and abandoned shipwrecks overgrown with grass feel eerie. I especially liked a photo of the wreck “Bayard” in the moonlight, with an entire deck full of tussock grass, and the description of how a four-ton elephant seal accompanied their return trip in the dinghy. Details like these really enhance the book.

Other shots remind me of Iceland’s Westfjords or the Lofoten Islands—especially the light, the views of the mountain ranges, or the blue hour glow. But it’s hard to compare South Georgia with any other place; the island has a character all its own.

The photo book itself—like the Iceland photo book—is, as usual, very well made. I really like the linen cover because of its bright tone, and the embossed title looks very elegant. A small thing, but I’m very receptive to such details.

The book is exactly the right format to leaf through comfortably while still offering large photos. The printing and image quality are consistently perfect—there’s nothing to criticize from a technical standpoint; a professional was at work here, you can tell immediately.

The binding is also very sturdy; I think I’ll be able to leaf through this book many more times without anything coming apart.

If you’d like to take a small virtual tour of South Georgia, you can do so on Google Street View. There’s a nice 360° shot of a lovely beach where king penguins breed. And you can also view the whaling station at Grytviken or the small church mentioned in the book (you can even go inside). There are six tours here.

Verdict: An all-around successful photo book that convinces with high-quality, very beautiful photographs and, together with the text and the selection of images, transports you into the world of South Georgia. You get a vivid sense of the landscape and the many inhabitants of this seemingly deserted, Antarctic island. South Georgia can’t compete with the multifaceted variety that Iceland offers (well, Iceland is the benchmark), and in a few places the book was a bit too king-penguin-and-seal-heavy for my taste (cool word), so it loses one star. A book I can recommend without reservation.

Book information: Antarctic Wilderness: South Georgia • Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson • mare Verlag • 144 pages • ISBN 9783866482463