Totally at home in a world of blue-white ice, these Adelie Penguins are like a symbol of "Life at the Edge". The realities of the freezing conditions were only too apparent while I was photographing this scene. We'd put out from the ship in a little Zodiac inflatable, warned that if we fell into the icy sea we could be dead within two minutes. Floating by this small iceberg, I realised it could make a great picture, especially with the lines of cloud radiating from the background and the glowing aqua of the submerged parts of the ice. I was using my Linhof large-format film camera and the only way I could get the shot was to hand-hold the camera while hanging right over the edge of the inflatable. How conscious I was of that "two minutes and you're dead!" warning; but the final shot worked beautifully - a wonderful portrait of these Adelie Penguins' icy island. I called the photo "Antarctic Raft", playing on the double meaning of raft, which is the name for a group of penguins as well as a floating platform.

Catalog Number: AQX001
Edition: 300
Image Ratio: 3:1