PONANT is set to celebrate World Photo Day on 19 August 2023, highlighting its collaboration with Photo Ambassadors who share their passion and 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 breath-taking landscapes, unique wildlife and remarkable cultural experiences through their lenses.

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.

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.”

Le Commandant Charcot (©Studio PONANT RomainFarge)

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.

Flood 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.

Featured Image: © Sue Flood Ross Sea_Le Commandant Charcot – Ponant Photo Ambassador Ian Dawson