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Expedition Photographer

I go where few follow.
Let me take you there.

Antarctica. Arctic. The edge of the world.
I go there so you can see what’s at stake.

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Max Unterharnscheidt expedition photographer in the field

About

Witness.
Not just observer.

I’m an expedition photographer based in the Swiss Alps, working at the edges of the inhabited world. Polar ice, remote coastlines, vanishing cultures.

For years I have worked as expedition photographer in Antarctica and the Arctic, documenting what few ever see firsthand. I return to these places not for the spectacle, but because the stories they hold matter.

As a photographer, guide, and speaker, I bring these places to life, and make the invisible visible.

30+
Antarctic expeditions
4
Years on the ice
7
Continents guided
Ambassador f-stop Gear →
Featured Photographer Oceanographic Magazine →

The Work

Three ways
to go further.

Polar expedition photography charter
Charter Expeditions

Join the expedition

Small-group charters to the polar regions. Not a tour. A genuine expedition with a photographer who knows these waters.

Svalbard 2027 →
Max Unterharnscheidt speaking about Antarctica and polar regions
Speaking & Teaching

The talk. The classroom.

From conference stages to expedition decks — sharing what I've witnessed, and teaching others to see it through their own lens.

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Antarctic wildlife and expedition photography
Photography

The images

Editorial, wildlife, and expedition imagery from the most remote places on Earth. Available for licensing, commissions, and fine art prints.

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Travel With Me

Come with me to
the ends of the earth.

I take small groups into the places that have shaped me, and let them feel why. Right now, that means Svalbard.

My next micro expedition cruise: nine days in the high Arctic, a small ship, just twelve people. Polar bears on pack ice, walrus colonies, silence broken only by calving glaciers. It's the current journey, and there are more to come.

Svalbard 2027Current expedition
March 26 – April 3Dates
Last spotsAvailability
Explore where we go →

Speaking

I’ve been there.
Let me show you
what’s at stake.

After 27 expeditions to Antarctica, I don’t just show beautiful images. I show what a continent under pressure looks like, and why that matters to all of us.

My talks combine first-person expedition storytelling with visual journalism, built for audiences who want to be moved, not just informed.

    • 27 expeditions to Antarctica, what I witnessed
    • The polar regions and what we stand to lose
    • Expedition photography as a tool for change
    • Remote cultures and the stories behind the image
Enquire about speaking →
Max Unterharnscheidt speaking about Antarctica

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve quietly cried out there. Not from sadness. From something harder to name.”

Max Unterharnscheidt

Contact

Let’s go
somewhere
together.

For expedition bookings, speaking enquiries, editorial commissions, or just to say hello from the other side of the world.

Get in touch → Join my tours →