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Meet Gregor Sailer, the man photographing The Polar Silk Road
Gregor Sailer is an Austrian photographer whose work seeks to unveil the secrets of some of the most remote places on Earth. In our new photography exhibition The Polar Silk Road, Gregor shines a light on the human-made structures scattered across the vast and isolated Arctic landscape and what they can tell us about the economic, political and social tensions in the region.
What is The Polar Silk Road?
Temperatures in the Arctic are rising three times faster than the global average. Causing detrimental effects, such as stronger winds, melting sea ice and rising sea levels, contributing to coastal erosion. Animals, plants and indigenous communities are also becoming more at risk.
In recent years the sea ice has melted so much that a shorter, more direct sea route through the Arctic has opened up. Known as The Polar Silk Road, this route exposes the region to more travel, research and exploitation.
The Polar Silk Road takes its name from the ancient ‘Silk Road’ trade route that connected the Western world with the Middle East and Asia. This new maritime trade route offers easy access for oil and gas extraction. This has caused conflict between the North American, East Asian and Western European countries in the area.
Our new exhibition features 67 striking images across four countries in the Arctic circle, Canada, Norway, Greenland and Iceland, and also Great Britain. It is the first time Gregor's photographs have been showcased in the UK.
His stunning portfolio is the result of a five-year-long project that saw Gregor undertake months of research in one of the most isolated places in the world, living in extreme conditions and bone-chilling temperatures. The images show isolated research centres, geothermal power stations and military structures, with many photos taken in restricted areas.
© Gregor Sailer
Preperation is key
Gregor never wanted to do a project about climate change but couldn’t ignore its impact on the Arctic. Through his photography, he hopes to spark conversation and reflection about the effects of climate change on the region.
For Gregor, this project was about focusing on socially relevant topics, not concentrating on lost places. ‘It’s very important that when I work with architecture, it has to be functional architecture, it has to work right now. It’s not an abandoned space,’ Gregor explains. Capturing this architecture was about sparking discussion around the economy, socio-political issues and militarisation around the globe, especially in restricted areas like the Arctic.
And so began years of in-depth planning, rigorous research and organisation. Gregor gathered as much information as possible, on everything from site maps and building plans to the dimensions of spaces. Studying these details allowed him to gauge how long it would take to produce authentic photos. But above all, he needed time to gain access to these buildings and be granted permission to photograph in these restricted zones.
‘I need to be as prepared as possible,’ remarks Gregor. ‘This phase of research and organisation needs months, sometimes years. You have to be open to investing this time otherwise you will not succeed,’ he explains.
But this wasn’t the only challenge Gregor had to overcome, living and photographing in the Arctic would prove to be no easy feat. ‘For me as a photographer, it’s mentally and physically challenging,’ he says. ‘The lowest temperatures have been minus 55 degrees Celsius. I have to protect myself with special polar clothes and I work with an analogue view camera, which allows me to stay outside longer compared to working with batteries.’ Such low temperatures saw the camera freeze which required Gregor to take time and wipe down the camera and lens which was ‘exhausting’.
Although the analogue camera had its benefits, it did limit Gregor to only taking one picture per subject, or motif, increasing the risk of not getting the shot. ‘I have to take care of my material, I don’t have endless material with me,’ Gregor explains. Though he reflects how this sharpened his focus. ‘It increases my perception, my consciousness,’ he exclaims.
At the end of the day Gregor says, ‘The aim is to create calm and neutral photographs even if the shooting situations are often the opposite.’ This required him to slow down and take time to compose the perfect photo.
© Gregor Sailer
The cold temperatures not only posed a technical hurdle but a physical one too. To access the locations and cope with the wildly changing conditions, Gregor had to be physically fit. ‘The weather is changing very quickly. You have to deal with whiteout situations, hostile landscapes and wild animals like polar bears,’ he explains. And the challenge wasn’t only physical, it was mental as well.
‘You have to fight with this loneliness too, which can make you crazy after a while. But for me personally, the working conditions were also exciting. It’s like an adventure because you're exposed to the power of nature.’
The Arctic is changing
But nature in this remote region is changing. ‘When I was working on the Greenland Ice Cap, I saw that the ice there was not only melting on the surface but also underground. In Norway the people there told me that because the winters are getting warmer, they have more snow in the wintertime than in the past,’ recalls Gregor. Living in the North Pole and meeting the people who call this extraordinary place home, made learning about and experiencing the environmental consequences of climate change even more personal.
The future
It emphasised to Gregor the urgency with which humankind must act to prevent further damage. ‘I’m fascinated by those landscapes. I’m very impressed and have lots of respect,’ exclaims Gregor, ‘but, I’m scared because I see what’s happening there’.
The Arctic is both geographically far away and far away from the reality of people’s everyday lives, yet Gregor has seen first-hand how it has a direct influence on us. He worries for the future of the Arctic, but also for the world’s open high mountains and Antarctica, both of which are experiencing the same changes.
‘What we see in the Arctic is that they want to dig for more raw materials, such as gas and oil, but we need to stop that immediately,’ he urges. Gregor wants people who view his work to think about the direction society is heading and how we should treat our planet to protect its future.
With The Polar Silk Road, the most important question Gregor wants to raise is, 'Is it possible as a single person to influence those developments happening to our planet?’
Staying optimistic about the planet’s future is not always easy and Gregor admits he sometimes struggles to not become pessimistic about the climate emergency. However, he recognises that a negative mindset stops you from being active and finding solutions.
‘We need to go on and we should not live in the past,’ asserts Gregor. For him, he will have succeeded when every single person thinks about what they can do to positively influence the treatment of the planet.
