This year (2023), I will be judging several categories for Capture Magazines ‘Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers competition. Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers recognizes, encourages, and promotes talented photographers in the early stages of their careers. Winners and runners-up will be showcased in the May/June 2023 issue of Capture. If you fit the bill for the emerging photographer, be sure to get your entries in soon.
The photograph of the month for January 2023 comes from my July 2022 expedition to Svalbard (Read the Trip Report) and is of a giant male Walrus on the beach in Svalbard during a heavy downpour. This photograph was taken by lying down on the wet sand (a very wet and sandy place to be that necessitated being hosed off on return to the ship!) using a 600mm lens. This photograph was featured in the recent Wildlife Photographic magazine that included a full feature on Walrus and one of my photographs as the cover shot.
I have just published Episode #61 of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast. In this episode, I briefly wrap up our fantastic Pallas Cat expedition in the far east of Mongolia in Winter (full trip report coming soon) and then move on to a significant rant about the total lack of customer service and care from what is supposed to be Australia’s number-one premier airline – Qantas. The total lack of customer support, lack of care, and total focus on profit at all costs is an embarrassment to Australia. I have been a Qantas Platinum flyer (a status that is apparently utterly worthless) for nearly ten years. I have spent many tens of thousands of dollars annually with the airline over the last decade. Today was the final straw, with Qantas providing me an unworkable connection time of just twenty minutes in Helsinki as their solution to a change in their flight schedules. Apparently, I am expected to land in Helsinki from Reykjavik and change to my international flight to Doha in twenty minutes. An absolutely impossible transit time. Their solution when I pointed this out was, I quote, ‘We are sorry; that is all we can offer you. You can speak with the service desk when you arrive in Helsinki.‘ My answer is to vote with my wallet and take my business elsewhere. In summary, I am absolutely done with Qantas and will no longer book future travel with them if I can avoid it. Sayonara Qantas.
The just-published January / February 2023 issue of Wildlife Photographic magazine includes one of my photographs of Walrus on the front cover and a feature article on my experiences photographing Walrus in the Arctic – ‘Beauty in the Beast.’ This is the sixth time I have been published in Wildlife Photographic and the fifth time I have been fortunate to score the cover shot! (the last four cover shot editions were on Grey Wolf Photography, Pallas Cat Photography, Arctic Fox Photography, and Polar Bear Photography). I have also been published in Wildlife Photographic for my Emperor Penguin photography.
The magazine can be found in the Apple App Store http://bit.ly/1aKP3qR and in the Google Play Store at http://bit.ly/1JOhMcW
Please use the following link to get three free issues! Free Subscription to Wildlife Photographic Magazine.
Over the last year or more, Norway has slowly removed rights from non-Norwegians who belong to signatory countries of the Svalbard treaty. The right to vote for non-Norwegian residents has been removed, and now the Norwegian government has removed the right to driving licenses for many. The following was written by a local non-Norwegian (USA) resident of Svalbard who forwarded me the following correspondence that has been sent to multiple embassies worldwide that are signatories to the Svalbard treaty. What Norway is doing is NOT ok and is a clear violation of the Svalbard treaty. There is a clear mandate in Svalbard to push non-Norwegians out and heavily restrict tourism to the archipelago.
In 2022, when it’s essential for worldwide democracies to stand together, Norway ended 20 years of democratic rule in the world’s northernmost town– Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Until June, 2022 the rules for Svalbard were the same as for mainland Norway. After three years, all residents can vote in local elections. But in Longyearbyen, where the non-Norwegian population is now 30%, Norway removed the right to vote from all non-Norwegian residents. Editors Note: A violation of the Svalbard treaty.
Further human rights were eliminated by Norway in October 2022 when they changed the rules for driving licenses making it illegal for non-Norwegians to drive and impossible for them to comply with the driving license rules. The decision on driving licenses so far is that only countries whose licenses follow the design of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, or are signatories to this convention, are allowed to continue driving. Ninety-six countries have not signed the Convention, including Australia, Canada, and the US.
At the same time, Norway no longer allows Svalbard residents to exchange their licenses for Norwegian ones. In contrast, on the mainland, foreign residents can exchange their driving documents after one month. The use of International Driving Permits which is allowed in the Vienna Convention and on mainland Norway is also exempted on Svalbard.
Not only do these restrictions create deep divides in the community, but this also raises a special difficulty for international scientists studying climate change. Without a driving license, scientists cannot go out into the field to conduct their research since travel into the wilderness requires the use of a snowmobile, and snowmobiles and ATVs are included under the same driving restrictions. Suddenly, in the place where climate change is happening fastest, Norway has made it impossible for research scientists to do their work.
In addition to affecting residents and researchers, this new rule also affects tourists. On mainland Norway, visitors can stay for three months while using their country’s license. Suddenly on Svalbard, no one -resident or visitor – is allowed to drive unless they meet the above requirements.
Norway was granted sovereignty over Svalbard in 1925 through the Spitsbergen Treaty. The Treaty guarantees all residents of Svalbard equal treatment, with no country’s citizens receiving preference. The sudden loss of driving rights is a clear breach of Article 3 which requires Norway to give all residents equal access within Svalbard both on land and water.
These shocking restrictions of rights in the high Arctic is costing people their jobs, housing and putting their safety at risk. This appears to be Norway’s attempt to force non-Norwegian Svalbard residents to leave the archipelago while at the same time the government is forcing Norwegian citizens to move to Svalbard by relocating some bureaucratic offices from the mainland to Longyearbyen.
Svalbard Resident
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 