-About-
Martin Hartley is an expedition and adventure photographer who has worked extensively in the Polar Regions. He works on and documents scientific expeditions as well as some of the world's most inaccessible places. He has over a decade of travel experience on journeys to the North and South Poles, and is one of the only photographers in the world to have crossed the frozen Arctic Ocean on foot and with dogs. In 2009, he was nominated by Time Magazine as one of their Heroes of the Environment for his work with the Catlin Arctic Survey in documenting sea ice cover and ocean acidification.
Over the last 20 years, much of Martin’s time has been taken up with documenting his favourite place on the planet (and possibly the most hostile and difficult place on earth to practice photography): the Arctic Ocean. During this time he has covered over 2,000 miles skiing on separate expeditions, living for 400 days on the sea ice, including a mammoth 99-day crossing of the ocean from Russia to Canada across the top of the planet. Martin will be working closely with NASA and the European Space Agency on his next expedition, set to occur during the late winter and spring of 2023. His goal will be to locate and document the last of the oldest remaining sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, before it is lost forever to global warming.
-Martin's Projects-
Publications
Martin’s work has been published internationally by National Geographic, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, The New York Times, Hotshoe, the British Journal of Photography, Practical Photography, Outside Magazine, and The British Library. He is also Director of Photography for Sidetracked Magazine. His first book was Face to Face: Polar Portraits, published by the Scott Polar Research Institute. He has exhibited at venues including the Royal Geographical Society in London, the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, and Iniziative Culturali in Trieste, Italy.
North Pole Expedition - Nasa Operation
In 2017, Martin joined a North Pole expedition to collect snow depth measurements for the European Space Agency’s CryoSat programme, which is being conducted in concert with NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission. Martin's next expedition is set for 2020, when he will collate research data and photograph the impact of climate change on multi-year ice, an element of the frozen north that is key to our planet’s survival.
Sidetracked Magazine
"Most wouldn't guess it, but one of my favourite times of the year is when I am actually standing at my computer screens, editing some of the world's most beautifully crafted adventure photographs for Sidetracked Magazine. The bone marrow of this magazine is laden with humble and authentic adventures, with integrity flowing through its spine. There are no traces of ego or overstated heroism on our pages. Sidetracked is about adventures of the heart, tales of committed travels into the wilderness wonderland. Often to places where there is no path, into deep canyons, through silent valleys onto big mountains, across empty deserts, tundra and through damp, sweaty jungles. No adventure is too small. What we love at Sidetracked is the way the adventures are done, not necessarily the places they take us."