Every time Arjen went to one of the polar area’s he felt very privileged to be able to see and experience such area’s. From the first moment he set foot on Spitsbergen, he fell in love with these areas. Many years later, he still got excited by every sighting of a Polar Bear, Walrus or Ivory Gull. But he also enjoyed the landscape (or better: icescape), the glaciers, even the smell of a bird colony. Above all he enjoyed the silence and desolateness, being away from the hectic life we’ve got used to (or not). No cell phone coverage, news always comes one week late, only a few e-mails. Life over there is just about wildlife, weather, scenery and good pictures. But unfortunately these area’s change. Over the years Arjen has seen change with his own eyes. Glaciers withdraw at an alarming speed, sea ice extent in summer is much less as it used to be. For the polar ecosystem, ice is very important, comparable to the soil of a forest. If the soil is gone, the forest will be gone too. That forest was one of his other passions. Not really the small pieces we have in the Netherlands, but the vast area’s just south of the Arctic. True wilderness areas, like the Arctic itself. Most of the time Arjen spent abroad that isn’t spent in the Arctic, he went to Scandinavia. In these places, he found peace and quietness and he loved to wander around hoping to find a glimpse of a Moose or even a Brown Bear.

Not many people have the privilege to visit areas like this. Over the years he gained quite some knowledge and experiences, first as a scientist later as a guide. Arjen felt it was his duty to share his passion for these areas with other people. Through his stories, lectures and pictures he hoped to create more awareness for these distant but rapid changing area’s. We hope this website can help a little in that goal.

Sadly Arjen passed away on January 4^th 2023. To honour his legacy we want to keep his website online and let visitors enjoy Arjens photography and video’s.

All pictures on this website are protected by copyright. It is not allowed to use any of them without prior notice of the caretakers of this website. If you want to use any of the pictures in a commercial way, the stock agency Buiten-Beeld sells Arjens pictures, an overview of all his pictures can be found here.

If you have any questions about Arjens work or anything else, feel free to contact the caretakers of this website.

Ageeth and Geert