JULIE CHANDELIER
POLAR PLASTIC
FROM THE SERIES SVALBARD, NORWEGIAN ARCTIC
I was fortunate to photograph a very rare sighting, a male and female polar bear during courtship. A confronting moment, when realising that even this far north, they can’t escape marine debris and human pollution.
MELTING GIANTS
FROM THE SERIES SVALBARD, NORWEGIAN ARCTIC
This image shows the giant but fragile ice walls of Negribreen, one of the largest tidewater glaciers of Svalbard. Its delicate towers, shaped by topography, pressure and time, can reach over 80 metres tall. Svalbard is known to be the fastest warming place on earth. The numerous cracks in the glacier are the scars of climate change, and serve as a warning, reminding us that these beautiful structures are now temporary.
ABOUT JULIE
French/Swedish, Julie is a passionate conservation photographer based in Christchurch, New Zealand. From the tropics to the polar regions, she advocates for the ocean and the wider natural world by telling stories about the connection we have with the amazing natural world we live in.
Born in Stockholm (Sweden) but raised by French parents, she navigated between both countries and cultures while seeing the rest of the world in the meantime. She has been grateful to call New Zealand her beautiful home since 2017.
Emotion is at the heart of her images: "I have always captured what I see and if my photos move those who see them, then I have achieved my goal”.
Raising awareness through her images has been keeping her busy in the last few years. This drive leads her to contribute to meaningful projects and to work with individuals and organisations who strive to improve our environment and communities’ well-being. She feels a responsibility to engage, inspire and create action from her viewers towards conservation efforts.
Her fascination for the natural world and marine life especially, began from a very young age and has only grown stronger since picking up a camera in the last decade. She spends countless hours sea kayaking offshore looking for whales and dolphins for example.
Julie has been lucky to go on expeditions and work as a photography guide in some of the most remote places on earth, where extreme conditions make photographing challenging but memorable. From documenting whale research in the Subantarctic Islands to guiding in the Arctic and most recently, Antarctica. Out in the elements is where her storytelling is at its best.
She was particularly moved by the Norwegian arctic (Svalbard), where she observed some of the most incredible species on this planet, roaming in what is now one of the most exposed regions to the dangerous effects of climate change.