Sue Flood Photography

25/08/2026

Exciting times! Simon Bishop Copyrightimage Karen Partridge Ian Dawson - Norð

23/08/2026

23/08/2026

17/08/2026

Polar photographers Sue Flood and Ian Dawson discuss their new collaborative book on the extraordinary light and wildlife of the extremes

17/08/2026

17/08/2026

🚨 The Antarctic krill fishery is catching more krill, but that does not mean there are more krill in the Southern Ocean. 🚨

The fishery has now reached its 620,000-tonne catch limit for the second year in a row. Just two years ago, around 341,000 tonnes of krill were caught. Since then, catches have increased by more than 80%.

So what changed?

NOT the amount of krill available. Instead, the rules governing where vessels can fish.

A key management measure that helped distribute fishing effort across different areas expired in 2024. Without those safeguards, vessels can now concentrate their catch in some of the most ecologically important areas of the Southern Ocean.

And that matters because these are the same areas where penguins, whales, seals and other wildlife depend on dense concentrations of krill for food.

🐋 Whales need krill. 🐧 Penguins need krill. 🦭 Seals need krill.

The fact that the fishery stays within its overall catch limit does not mean the fishery is working. If vessels can repeatedly reach that limit early by concentrating fishing in critical wildlife feeding areas, the management system is not adequately protecting the ecosystem.

CCAMLR's own Scientific Committee has already warned that the current concentration of krill fishing is not precautionary.

We need management that considers where, when and how much krill is caught, adopts safeguards against concentrated fishing, and protects the places where wildlife depends on krill most.

The Southern Ocean does not have more krill to spare. The rules have simply allowed more of the catch to come from the places wildlife needs them most.

CCAMLR Members have an opportunity to change that this October. They must act.

Read our statement: https://www.asoc.org/news/asoc-statement-fishing-trigger-limit/

23/07/2026

As always, an inspiring and insightful few days at Summit Photo 2026 held at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in London. I urge any of you with an interest in photography to look at attending next year's world-class event.

This year, I participated in a roundtable with photographers who need no introduction, James Balog, Mandy Barker and Sue Flood Photography, discussing how photography actually effects change in practice. What does it mean to persevere and keep making work when the subject is habitat loss, species decline, glacial retreat? When your subjects are slowly, but undeniably, diminishing? Chris Rainier and Gideon Mendel both brought considered perspectives to the table, and Jamie Owen (FRGS) chaired the proceedings with his usual deft hand.

(Thank you to Simon Hill HonFRPS for the image of the round table discussion around the historic boardroom table where Captain Scott's Discovery Expedition was planned in 1899)

One question kept surfacing: how to maintain a positive outlook when the evidence in front of your lens is often bleak? There was a view that hope isn't something passive. It has to be chosen. Something closer to what William James called the 'will to believe', an idea that committing to a possibility can, in itself, help bring it about. Without that commitment, the work risks becoming mere documentation of loss. With it, there's at least the chance that the image does something, shifts a perspective, or holds the viewer's attention a little longer. As ever, the discussion could have developed over many more hours. I always leave Summit with more questions and ideas than when I arrived.

I'm also pleased that my image of the Thwaites Glacier has been selected for the Earth Photo 2026 exhibition, touring the UK throughout 2026 and 2027. Thwaites is one of the most closely watched glaciers on the planet. Changes to this remote Antarctic ice sheet have implications for global sea level rises that are hard to overstate.

The touring exhibition can be seen at:

📍 Royal Geographical Society, London — until 22 July 2026
📍 National Trust Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire — 27 June – 31 July 2026
📍 National Trust Coleton Fishacre, Devon — 12 September – 21 October 2026
📍 Sidney Nolan Trust, Chester Zoo, and further National Trust and Forestry England venues through to early 2027

Thanks to the RGS, Photoworks and the The Royal Photographic Society for building something worth coming back to.