Stories
East Coast of Greenland Expedition
It was an honor to document the scientific work alongside The New York Times writer Raymond Zhong aboard the Thórunn Thórardóttir research vessel in 2025 September and to collaborate with editor Matt McCann in bringing this important story to life. The research focuses on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), one of the ocean systems […]
ArcWatch Expedition to the North Pole
ArcWatch Expedition to the North Pole The research icebreaker Polarstern reached the geographic North Pole during the two-month ArcWatch expedition in September 2023. The expedition started in August 2023 during the hottest summer on record during a parallel minimum in Arctic sea ice extent. The team of nearly 100 crew and scientists studied the Eurasian […]
Stars of Polar Night
Svalbard is a key region of global warming, where average winter temperatures have risen by 6°-8° Celsius since 1993, according to long-term atmospheric observations by the Alfred Wegener Institute at the French-German Arctic Research Base AWIPEV. This increase is much faster than anywhere else on the planet. Glacier mass balance studies by the Norwegian Polar […]
Polarnight
For the first time, I have experienced the polar nights on the sea ice of the Central Arctic Ocean. During the first part of the MOSAiC expedition, embarked on September 20th, 2019, we lived in complete darkness for almost 3 months, mesmerised by the magic of the polar nights every single day. Time had a […]
IceBird – Station Nord, Greenland
Since 2001, the Arctic Ocean sea ice thickness has decreased by 30% in the summer months. According to sea ice models, the Arctic Ocean will be ice free during the summer months within the next 20-25 years. This beautiful, mesmerizing landscape will disappear along with the majority of the species that depend upon it. Who […]
Antarctica – closest place on Earth to space
Antarctica – closest place on Earth to space Fresh veggies from Antarctica, from the closest place on Earth to space. The Antarctic is a frigid continent south of the Antarctic Circle, where researchers are the only inhabitants. Despite the hostile conditions, here the Alfred Wegener Institute operates the Neumayer Station, where researchers live and work […]
About Esther
Esther Horvath is as a contributor photographer for National Geographic, is a Nikon Ambassador and photographer for the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. Her work focuses on documenting climate research in the polar regions.
As a photographer, Esther is actively involved in public speaking, visual science communication in form of publications, books and international exhibitions and education.
Esther’s work has been featured in National Geographic,The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Audubon Magazine and GEO Magazine.
Subscribe Esther’s Newsletter