Northern Exposure: Norbert Rosing

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"THE POLAR BEAR is the icon of the Arctic," said photographer Norbert Rosing. "If you are not triggered by them, you are dead in the heart."

Rosing knows a bit about polar bears. He's photographed them for 20 years, taking yearly trips to the Canadian and Scandinavian Arctic to capture the bears in their natural environment as they play, fight, tend to their cubs and even engage in some Donner Party behavior.

"This year, I've seen for the first time cannibalism between bears," said the German photographer, who will present his images and talk about them at the S. Dillon Ripley Center on Tuesday. "When I saw it first, I figured it is a mother eating its own cub because she looked like a female bear and the little one was pretty little."

But the game wardens, Rosing said, were unable to confirm if the larger bear was a male or female — they only knew that it was a cub of two and a half years in good health. "Why the cub died, nobody knows. I wish I could have told the story that it was mother and cub, but I have to stick with the facts."

The cannibalism Rosing witnessed was more than an Arctic anomaly — it was symptomatic of the environmental changes slowly altering the bears' environment.

"Scientists are saying that these days, they are seeing [cannibalism] more and more, especially in Alaska and Siberia," Rosing explained. He said the ice there is retreating further to the north, where the water is deeper and there are few fish and seals for the polar bears to hunt. The bears must then turn to other options for food.

Global warming is causing other changes to the bears' environment, Rosing said. Polar bears hunt from ice, but it is not covering as much of the North Pole as in past years. Since "white" ice reflects sunlight and the "black" ocean absorbs it, the water is getting warmer, causing more melted ice and less area from which bears can hunt.

As Rosing continued to give examples of the environmental changes global warming causes, throwing in some shifts caused by industrialization, he explained how he hopes his work will raise public consciousness of the issues. "I try to do with my books, with my articles, with the photography, to open up the eyes to the public — to open up their eyes to say, 'Look at what we will lose if we do not hold on here.' If these photographs can do a little bit, then hopefully we can stop it a little bit."

Cannibalism aside, Rosing has captured a melange of polar bear behavior, including a stunning image of a polar bear playing with sled dogs. But the shutterbug said there are still behaviors he is waiting to witness.

"I would like to see polars bears in front of big glaciers, like glacier fronts that are shimmering in green and blue and all kinds of colors," he said. "I would love to see polar bears interacting with other arctic animals, like catching a beluga whale or feeding on big whale carcasses. Or mating of polars bears, polar bears in weird weather conditions, or a mother and cubs playing in the den."

Not surprisingly, working with polar bears has put Rosing in some dangerous situations. One example happened as he was taking photos from the hatch of a minivan, accompanied by a driver and a watcher.

"All of a sudden, I see this huge head right next to mine — a gigantic bear was coming over and he leaned over the vehicle and he grabbed my [camera] lens," he said. "There was a big handle on that lens, and he grabbed it with his teeth and tried to pull it away from me and I grabbed the lens and pulled it out of the mouth of the bear."

The bear retreated for a moment, Rosing said, "but he got very mad and he came over and jumped on the car almost and his paw was just dangling in the open hatch. He tried to reach my parka to pull me out.

"We were able to start the car and make it out, but the bear didn't leave us alone for another 20 minutes. People in other vehicles saw that and told us in the evening, 'We saw you dead.' But I didn't see it — I just saw him as a pest at that moment."

» S. Dillon Ripley Center, Education Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW; Tue., 6:45-9 p.m., $27-$40. 202-357-3030. (Smithsonian)

Written by Express contributor Katherine Silkaitis

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Photos from "World of the Polar Bear" by Norbert Rosing. Copyright 2006 Norbert Rosing. Published by Firefly Books. Reprinted with permission.