The period between Christmas and New Year is a quiet time for photographers and so I took some time out with my family to reset on a 12 day Hurtigruten cruise along the coast of Norway from Bergen up towards Kirkenes near the Russian border.
The term Hurtigruten means ‘fast route’ in Norwegian and was the name given to the service established in 1893 to connect remote, far-flung communities along the Norwegian coast, carrying passengers, mail, and cargo between Trondheim and Hammerfest, and later Bergen and Kirkenes.
The cruise now stops at 34 ports before turning around and calling at them all again, so 65 stops in total, however due to poor weather, we were forced to take shelter in Hammerfest, 9 stops before Kirkenes for several days before returning to our southbound schedule.
Having passed through the Arctic Circle around the shortest day of the year, we didn’t see the sun for about 10 days as we travelled North. This made the photographic experience of ‘painting with light’ a little surreal and significantly affected my emotional state from an artistic perspective.
I managed 5 swims along the way, including one in the harbour at Hammerfest with the outside temperature around -16ºC (and water temperature around freezing). I hope these photos convey the moody atmosphere of being inside the arctic circle at its darkest time of the year.
