Stu McKenzie, an ex-Army photographer and senior BBC cameraman, gave us a revealing insight into his personal photographic journey. After several demanding tours of duty in the military and hectic overseas assignments with the BBC, Stu sought solace in photography as a therapeutic tool and means to destress his lifestyle. He travelled to Mongolia and joined some Kazakh eagle hunters as they journeyed into the Altai mountains and experienced first hand their way of life. Their isolation and basic way of life resonated with him and building a rapport enabled him to take many images from an insider perspective.

By chance Stu became aware of the indigenous Nenet people living in northern arctic Russia whose livelihood depended heavily on reindeer herding and fishing. He planned a tortuous journey to join them as they moved their reinder herds in extreme conditions.  Through immersing himself in their culture he was once again able to both experience and record their life style and witness the threats posed to their way of life from climate change and development of the oil and gas industry.  Operating in temperatures which could drop as low as -40C presented many photographic challenges including frozen LCD screens, shortlife batteries and operating the camera controls whilst wearing two or three sets of gloves!!.

Despite these demanding and extreme conditions, Stu managed to record striking and powerful images that reinforced the narrative of his approach to photography and the benefits it had delivered to him. He hopes to revisit the Nenets and join their 1000 km migration when conditions permit.