I got to visit Svalbard a few months ago, and I took some photos that I thought turned out pretty good.
What the terrain looked like from the air. I don't know why, but the nearly alien desolation of Svalbard really appeals to me. It feels like a place that we're not supposed to even be in, and there's a sort of savage beauty to it.
Waterfall
Cabin by the sea. Trappers, maybe?
What passed for dusk, with what look like radar (or the like) installations in the distance.
Soviet/Russian coal mining settlement called Pyramiden. Mostly abandoned, but there's a hotel in one of the old dorm buildings nowadays.
Part of the actual mine in Pyramiden.
A Red October piano from Leningrad
Terrifying wildlife
Walruses having an argument
Seal for scale
Great pictures. :-)
I've been to Svalbard twice myself, to visit my grandfather who lived most of his life in Longyearbyen. Once in summer, and once in late winter (after the sun had returned). It's really a beautiful place, and a fascinating community. It will be interesting to see how they'll fare now that the last coal mines are closing.
posted 2030 days ago