A bear covered in ice. A salmon flying into your face. And a camera trap that decides to take a trip down a mountain. Just another day in the Yukon 😄🐻📸
We pick up where we left off with wildlife photographer and filmmaker Peter Mather, going deeper into the projects, ideas and adventures that have shaped his work in the Yukon. From his extraordinary ice-bear project and the salmon that bring the whole ecosystem together, to the elaborate camera traps he uses to photograph animals that are rarely seen, Peter takes us behind the scenes of some seriously ambitious wildlife photography.
The ice bears became much more than a story about bears. As Peter spent more time working on the project, he realised that the real story was the salmon — and what happens when they begin to disappear. We talk about the wider ecosystem that depends on them, the dramatic changes he has witnessed over the years, and a summer salmon project that unfortunately fell apart at the last minute.
The ice-bear project also led, somewhat accidentally, to Peter's first documentary, Kings of the North. What began with a small grant and a friend helping with camera traps somehow turned into a film about ice bears, salmon, conservation and Peter's quest for an image of an ice bear beneath the northern lights — with his dog Luke Skywalker along for the ride. And yes, Peter and his team deliberately made it funny.
We also explore Peter's current project, Ghosts of the North, which grew from an accidental camera-trap image of an Arctic fox. Using long exposures and flash, Peter has found a way to make elusive northern animals appear almost like ghosts — a technique that has opened up a whole new visual direction for his work.
And then there are the stories that make Peter's world feel rather less like a wildlife photography textbook: cameras disappearing, expensive equipment being outsmarted by animals, his daughter finding two lynx on the highway, Luke Skywalker deciding he is actually a Jedi Knight, and a little Yukon food and family life thrown in for good measure. 😂🐾
So grab a coffee and join us for this conversation with Peter Mather.
📸 See more of Peter Mather's work:
https://petermather.com/
🎬 Watch Peter's documentary Kings of the North:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e9GYGfUGNw&list=LL
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