Nature nominee

The ever changing faces of the ice caves inside Mer de Glace. A new tunnel is dug into the glacier every year to accommodate tourists visiting a wonderful glacial world. However, the tunnel itself did not peak my interest. It was the ghostly appearance of light hitting the layers upon layers of compressed ice that sparked my imagination. I took a Giger-esque approach to underexpose the ice, while maintaining powerful highlights. It's interesting to me that we can be inspired by otherworldly appearances shining through the other end of a telephoto lens.

This series shows four of such captures that have all been shot over the course of a single visit inside Mer de Glace.

I'm a professional landscape photographer from the Netherlands, passionate about conveying ethereal qualities through both photography and post-processing.

Photography started when I was about nine years old and held my dad's Pentax for the first time. I focused on landscape photography specifically about a decade ago, as a means to keep my turbulent mind occupied in the outdoors in order to appreciate nature even more. My dark and moody visual style sprung for an appreciation for The Lord of the Rings films and the art of card game Magic: The Gathering. Getting lost (sometimes literally) in the few remaining bits of wilderness we have in Europe, is always on my mind and I create art that suits that fantasy-fueled wanderlust.

Most of my life, I felt I am different. I care not for politics or cars or having the latest gadgets. I care (worry) about the environment, look forward to human settlement on Mars and hope that artificial intelligence cares enough about its creator. But small things matter to me as well. As I'm writing this, there's a happy cat purring on my lap and my loving wife is cooking the best vegan dinner.