biography
Tim received his first camera at the age of 9 and has been taking photos ever since. A few years later he was given an SLR and started to learn the finer details of photography from his father who was a keen amateur.
His first experience of cold places was on an expedition to Arctic Norway at the age of 18. Since then he has been on expeditions to Svalbard, Iceland and Greenland, including a 600km unsupported icecap crossing in 2000, and leading to Greenland on two expeditions for the charity BSES Expeditions taking groups of 17-19 year olds for a once in a lifetime experience. BSES are the people who gave Tim his first experience of the Arctic at 18, and he is proud to be returning the favour.
After working as a Geography teacher Tim realised that he had some things to get out of his system. He went on to spend four alpine winters ski guiding in France and Italy, supply teaching, mountaineering and expeditioning inbetween. It was then that he decided it was time to go back to the polar regions.
He was appointed as a Field Assistant (Mountaineer) for the British Antarctic Survey and proceeded to spend 3 years of his life living and working on the white continent. With four summers working alongside world class scientists in harsh and remote field locations and two winters at a British station, he has developed a huge passion for the Antarctic and had some fantastic experiences on this amazing continent. For his most recent winter in 2006 he was Winter Base Commander of Rothera Research Station, the largest of British Antarctic Survey's bases.
His love for photography grew more and more whilst living and working with so many great people on this inspirational yet unforgiving continent. The colour and light in the Antarctic are like nothing on earth, and he took every opportunity to try and record this beauty through the lens of his camera.
During the recent Southern summer of 2007/08 he worked from McMurdo station jointly with Geologists with the United States Antarctic Program. Based from a remote field camp at Minna Bluff they were looking into the evolution of Mt Discovery and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. After that he spent ten days working with other geologists on the famous Mt Erebus - the only Active Volcano in the Antarctic.
On returning home Tim has given talks to hundreds of people about his experiences and about living and working on the white continent. The Antarctic still has a major pull, but now he plans to spend a little more time in the UK sharing his experiences through talks, presentations and exhibitions, limiting his time away to single seasons and travelling elsewhere to expand his horizons both personally and photographically.
To contact him directly please email tim@timburtonphotography.com