PONANT, world leader in luxury expeditions, is set to celebrate World Photo Day on 19 August 2023, proudly highlighting its collaboration with world-renowned Photo Ambassadors who share their passion and invaluable tips onboard a vast array of luxury expeditions itineraries. Travelling aboard PONANT’s luxury ships, renowned international photographers Cindy Miller Hopkins, Sue Flood, Ian Dawson and Nick Rains promote the significance of travel photography in preserving cherished memories from across the globe, capturing breathtaking landscapes, unique wildlife and remarkable cultural experiences through their lenses.
With a commitment to fostering a deeper connection with the world and the diverse communities PONANT explores, each Photo Ambassador collaborates on various projects crafted for PONANT guests including complimentary onboard photography workshops, exclusive photography shore excursions and interactive presentations, allowing guests to enhance their photography skills and develop a deeper appreciation for the art form and its role in capturing the unique destinations they visit.
“Photography is about translating our way of seeing the world,” explains photographer Cindy Miller Hopkins. “Helping guests explore their full creative potential is a really fulfilling part of my role as a PONANT Photo Ambassador.”
Dedication to curating unparalleled travel experiences.
As well as workshops and engaging conversations, PONANT offers its guests exclusive one-on-one sessions with Photo Ambassadors, providing various opportunities to practice and develop their talent in exceptional conditions. Travellers who partake in these sessions will take home a portfolio of images, enhancing the program of unforgettable experiences for which PONANT is renowned.
“Hosting celebrated Photo Ambassadors onboard a select number of PONANT’s captivating itineraries adds an exhilarating dimension to our guests’ journeys and experiences,” explains Deb Corbett, PONANT General Manager Sales & Marketing for Asia Pacific. “We are thrilled to offer people the opportunity to learn and be inspired by these exceptional talents who capture the breathtaking destinations and encounters of each PONANT voyage.”
Meet PONANT’s Photo Ambassadors:
Sue Flood: Poles adventurer
For over 25 years, Sue Flood has crisscrossed the Arctic and Antarctic during her many visits, both as a producer and filmmaker with the BBC’s Natural History Unit, and public speaker. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her photography culminating in an invitation to meet the late Queen Elizabeth II. Sue is one of the few professional women photographers who returns again and again to these most demanding of regions. Her latest book, Emperor – The Perfect Penguin, prefaced by Sir Michael Palin, is a dedication of 200+ shots to emperor penguins – her favourite species.
Sue Flood joins PONANT on selected itineraries to the Arctic, Antarctica, Japan and Papua New Guinea in 2023 and 2024.
Cindy Miller Hopkins: 150 visas so far
For 25 years, professional photographer Cindy Miller Hopkins has been roaming the seven continents and the seas surrounding them. With her lens, she has captured treasures from more than 150 countries. Her photo taken in 2018 of five penguin species in one frame is thought to be the only one like it in the world. And with over 6,000 others published, her photos have appeared in fine art prints, magazines and journals, as well as textbooks, travel brochures, calendars and consumer products.
Cindy Miller Hopkins joins PONANT on selected itineraries to Antarctica, the Arctic and Alaska in 2023 and 2024.
Ian Dawson: On the world’s peaks
Ian Dawson is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker and mountain guide. A fine art graduate, Ian has spent most of his career in the British media as a photo-journalist and picture editor with several national newspapers. He has covered conflict, travel, the Royal Family and celebrities of stage and screen across the globe. But what really drives him is his passion for the remotest regions of the planet. Ian is a member of the Alpine Club, the Guild of Picture Editors and Scottish Mountain Rescue. He was recently awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022.
Ian Dawson joins PONANT on selected itineraries to Antarctica, the Arctic and Papua New Guinea in 2023 and 2024.
Nick Rains: A vision for the Kimberley
Nick Rains has been a professional photographer for almost 40 years, starting off with yachting and other sports before specialising in travel and documentary work. His images have been published in books and magazines around the world and he is the author of 14 photography books. Besides his travel work, Nick is a consultant for Leica Camera AG in Germany and is also the principal instructor for Leica Akademie in Australia, teaching keen photographers how to create better images by taking small groups to far flung locations such as Cuba, Iceland, India, Greece, Myanmar, Namibia, Ethiopia, New Zealand and of course all over Australia. Since 2015, Nick has travelled on many different PONANT expeditions around the globe, from the Russian Far East in the north to Antarctica and the Kimberley in the south.
Nick Rains joins PONANT on selected itineraries to Alaska, the Arctic and the Kimberley in 2023 and 2024.
Explore an array of destinations with Photo Ambassadors on board:
Unexplored Antarctica between two continents – with Ian Dawson and Sue Flood
From Ushuaia to Lyttelton, 28 nights onboard Le Commandant Charcot
From 7 January 2024 to 5 February 2024
From AUD 66,300 per person
Find more about this voyage.
From Dumont d’Urville to Mawson: retracing Herioc Age expeditions – with Ian Dawson and Sue Flood
From Lyttelton to Ushuaia,, 26 nights onboard Le Commandant Charcot
From 6 February 2024 to 3 March 2024
From AUD 60,680 per person
Find more about this voyage.
Transarctic, the quest for the two North Poles – with Cindy Miller Hopkins
From Nome, Alaska to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, 20 nights onboard Le Commandant Charcot
From 6 September 2024 to 26 September 2024
From AUD 66,010 per person
Find more about this voyage.
Alaska, nature on a grand scale – with Cindy Miller Hopkins
From Vancouver to Seward, Alaska, 11 nights onboard Le Soléal
From 7 August 2024 to 18 August 2024
From AUD 10,510 per person
Find more about this voyage.
Japanese subtropical Islands – with Sue Flood
From Keelung (Chilung) to Kagoshima, 7 nights onboard Le Jacques-Cartier
From 13 April 2024 to 20 April 2024
From AUD 8,990 per person
Find more about this voyage.
Kyushu’s secret islands and ancestral heritage – with Sue Flood
From Kagoshima to Fukuoka, 7 nights onboard Le Jacques-Cartier
From 20 April 2024 to 27 April 2024
From AUD 9,560 per person
Find more about this voyage.
In the ice of the Arctic, from Greenland to Svalbard – with Nick Rains
From Reykjavic to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, 16 nights onboard Le Commandant Charcot
From 25 June 2024 to 11 July 2024
From AUD 46,140 per person
Find more about this voyage.
Scott & Shackleton’s Antarctic – Ross Sea Expedition – with Cindy Miller Hopkins
From Dunedin to Dunedin, 21 nights onboard Le Soléal
From 10 February 2024 to 2 March 2024
From AUD 31,330 per person
Find more about this voyage.
