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Photographer, Matheo Ganadu has spent the past years exploring and documenting life around the sea ice ecosystem, mainly around the Svalbard archipelago. It’s there, in the heart of the Arctic winter, that he feels most alive, surrounded by cold, silence, and the unique light of these extreme regions.

Every year, he returns to the ice for several months, often in small, self-sufficient teams, such as during his expeditions with the photographer Florian Ledoux. These experiences have taught him patience, humility, and the true meaning of wilderness.

His photographic work focuses on documenting climate change and the evolution of species living in these fragile environments. Through his images, he aims to reveal both the beauty and the vulnerability of the polar world.
“We protect what we love, and we love what we know”

Matheo has collaborated with others photographers and collectives like Arctic Art Project, that brings together artists and scientists to raise awareness about climate preservation. He also works regularly aboard polar expedition vessels, in both the Arctic and sometimes Antarctica.

For Matheo, photography is a way to connect people with nature, to tell the stories of what is disappearing, and to remind us why it is vital to protect these frozen worlds.

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In these flat and open icescapes, opportunistic predators quickly take advantage of the situation. Arctic foxes, in particular, are masters at finding weak spots in the frozen landscape. As soon as the sea ice forms near the coast, they leave their dens and travel along the edges of the fjords, always alert, scanning the ice for signs of life. When a seal gives birth on flat ice, without the shelter of snowdrifts or ridges, the pup becomes an easy target.
The sea ice can be a chaotic place a balance of strength and fragility, a perfect balance of temperature and density. It forms, it breathes, and it disappears, following the whims of winter, the currents, and the tides. On the most recent ice chart, we can clearly see that Svalbard is currently completely “sea-ice-less.” For freezing to begin along the coasts and inside the fjords, temperatures must be cold and stable, and the seawater needs to reach −1.8 °C. The polar bear realm around Svalbard is at its minimum right now. Hopefully, we’ll get the right conditions for the water to freeze and for solid stable ice to build up over the winter.
As the climate changes, glaciers are shrinking, and sea ice is becoming thinner and less dense. The polar bear’s realm is in danger, smaller and more unstable. In the winter of 2025, we reached one of the lowest levels of sea ice ever recorded in the Arctic. This ecosystem is changing very fast, so we’ll witness more and more adaptive behaviors. Seals, the bears’ favorite snack, will become harder to catch. As an apex predator, the polar bear will adapt by finding new ways to hunt. This beautiful female caught a reindeer after stalking her prey all day across the mountains. A rare and very interesting scene to witness.
This newborn ringed seal pup came into the world on a stretch of flat sea ice, no relief, no lair, nothing to hide behind, simply shaped by the geography of the fjord. Not the best place to survive in the Arctic. The mother did her best to protect it, hoping to reach the fourth week, when the pup would finally become waterproof. After only a few days, this little cutie was caught by a polar fox. Nature can be cruel, but foxes have to eat too. Two last photos by @florian_ledoux_photographer