Standard: 40" x 24"

Large: 60" x 36"

Prints are available through William's represented galleries, McKay Williamson (London) & ARTITLEDcontemporary (Netherlands)

Polar bears are the only species that actively still hunt humans. While odd accounts of rogue individual animals, lion or tiger for instance are known, polar bears are the only species that will pursue us.

When photographing polar bears in the Arctic William has to ditch his usual tactic; get as close and as low as is possible, as it simply is not viable with this species, there are too many safety precautions in place, rightly so.

Working from a zodiac (a small inflatable boat) in temperatures well below zero, a longer lens than he would usually reach for, William captured this bear as it looked upon him and the team in the boat, perhaps actively working out its chances of hunting them, a feeling William has never had before holding a camera.

“We truly thought the bear was considering us as a possible food source, something I have never encountered photographing predators before.

It was why I was keen to keep this image in colour, rather than work in my usual black and white. It allows the viewer to truly feel the cold, as if there in the shot, and experience how it felt to be looked upon as prey. A chilling feeling.”