Gordon Ross Photography

29/06/2024

Survival at sea in the South Pacific

26/03/2024

Wounan Tribesman, Darien Gap, Panama

08/03/2024

Bozo Tribesman, Niger River, Mali

The more I travelled, the more I saw our commonalities.

Clothes, skin colour, culture, etc. can create the illusion of difference.

But when you meet someone face to face, you realize we’re just reflections of each other.

Peace, understanding and empathy. That’s where it’s at.

06/03/2024

Portrait of a priest in Lalibela, Ethiopia.

24/02/2024

Portrait of a Wounan Chief, Darien Gap, Panama.

03/12/2023

02/12/2023

2 polar bear cubs playing in the snow in Svalbard.

There are 19 population groups of polar bears in the arctic with Svalbard’s population being one of the largest. The population of these bears in the Svalbard island group and surrounding Barents Sea is estimated to be about 3000 bears.

They are considered marine mammals since they spend the bulk of their lives among the drifting ice, and in summer along the ice edge and coast. With numbers like this, you might think that you would see them around every point, but they are surprisingly hard to see from the deck of the ship. As such, constant spotting with scopes is necessary if you want to catch a glimpse of these Kings of the Arctic.

As their ice domain melts, the pressures on these bears and all of the Arctic's biota is intense. Luckily, their populations are holding in this part of the arctic, but their future is precarious.

This shot was taken from a zodiac just off the coast of Svalbard, Norway at about 79° north.

25/11/2023

Changing the lights on a cross in Mandalay, Burma.

I took this film shot while leading a tour years ago in Burma.

When I look at this image, I wonder what conversations brought them to this moment.

What would lead these 2 to risk their lives to change the lights on a cross high above the ground, on an old structure, without safety gear, in bare feet?

Was it the priest that asked them to do it? Was it a belief that they might be protected by God, or that they might curry favour with God by changing the light, and ultimately be saved?

Or was it more mundane? Just a job that needed to be done and these were the available guys? In countries, where they have poor safety standards, dangerous jobs are undertaken regularly. When someone dies doing a job like this in a poor country, they rarely make the news.

We stayed for a while, but it was kind of unbearable to watch them moving around up there. We couldn’t watch any longer so we left. I hope they made it down.

https://gordonross.ca

25/02/2022

A hanging out on the ice. These animals, along with orca, are the alpha predators of Antarctica. When they’re in the water, penguins get nervous and try to get out as fast as possible. When they catch a penguin, they literally turn it inside out by thrashing it back and forth on the surface. It’s pretty gruesome to watch but it’s the way of nature.

22/02/2022

Humpback fluke, Antarctica. Oh to be a whale swimming in the big blue Southern Ocean. ❤️

19/02/2022

Portrait of a fur seal. These animals are abundant throughout the Southern Ocean and were almost decimated by the sealing industry in the 19th century. They have bounced back since then but their numbers are steadily decreasing probably due to climate change.

They look pretty cute but they are very territorial and super aggressive. They flip there back flipper under them on land and can lurch super fast and they have razor sharp teeth. Best to keep your distance. Many have been surprised by their speed and ferocity.