This picture captures the essence of the mystery of the Antarctic Continent better than any other I believe. Shrouded in a strange light, unusual animals - here Gentoo Penguins - frolic near the shore of a calm gray sea. In the distance are overturned and office building-sized icebergs as far as the eye can see. A surreal tableau that few will ever see.

The most unusual element in this picture is the piece of clear ice floating on the left hand side of the image. Most ice in Antarctica comes from glaciers and ice shelves and is white. This ice came from an unknown source of fresh water. In the distance is some of the only 2% of Antarctica that is ice-free, mostly located on the peaks of the Antarctica Peninsula.

This picture was shot from the shore, looking across the channel towards the continent itself. It was done using my 4 x 5 view camera, and so contains an incredible amount of detail. Working with a camera of this type is difficult enough under ideal conditions, using it in the most remote part of the earth was really challenging.