Michael Martin has been travelling through the deserts of this world for 35 years, and is filling halls with his presentations.

Transcription

1 Michael Martin has been travelling through the deserts of this world for 35 years, and is filling halls with his presentations. In Globetrotter Magazine, the photographer and adventurer explains the pictures from his latest project Planet Desert which required the most expertise and best organisation or simply luck. NEITHER NOR COSTS EFFORT Text & photos Michael Martin Expensive journey: In order to reach the Drygalski Mountains in Queen Maud country, you do not only need well-planned flight logistics. In that remote part of east Antarctica, a 200-litre barrel of kerosine also costs 14,000 US dollars.

2 In the right place at the right time: After heavy rain in Queensland, the Warburton River transported enormous amounts of water into Lake Eyre, Australia s biggest salt lake. That created abstract shapes and colours which you can only see from the air. Luck needs to be on your side to get the perfect shot from an aircraft at an altitude of 6,000 metres. Lucky in the air: a nameless glacier in the east of Greenland, inland ice flowing into the frozen Arctic Ocean. You can only get a feel of the size from the air. The picture arose by chance on a passenger flight with Air Greenland.» It has become more difficult to take photos nobody has seen before. However, digital technology makes many things easier. But even after 35 years, desert and ice continue to fascinate me. Michael Martin (52) travelled 700 days for Planet Desert.

3 Every day, hundreds of camels visit the gorge of Archi in the Ennedi Plateau, Chad, to drink at Guelta, a natural water hole. Deceiving idyll: A dangerous one-week journey from the Chad capital of N Djamena is necessary in order to reach the remote southern Sahara. From the base camp in the dunes, it was only another two-hour walk to the photo location in the rocks. A peaceful picture in a troubled country.

4 The right moment: You need a helicopter to take photos of melt-water lakes on one of the plateau glaciers in Franz Josef Land. The 60 minutes in the air were the best photo moments of the two-week journey in the Russian Arctic. Location tip: There are many springs in the Thar Desert, but it is only in Kuba Rahm where each evening so many women walk to the only spring in the village. The driver of the rented jeep knew that. Sometimes the weather is just not right, other times the logistics are too much effort or the local authorities cause trouble. Difficult political situation: The dunes of the Saudi Arabian Rub al-khali desert formed over 10,000 years ago and are known to be the highest of the world. It was a problem to even get a visa for this disputed country. WOHL.GEH.FUHL Wellness für Ihre Füße wohin Sie auch gehen Mehr Platz im Ballenbereich Hochwertiges Fußbett mit Naturkork wieder besohlbar Trento Lady GTX (auch als Herrenmodell erhältlich)

5 << PROJECTS >> WIR SIND BERGSCHUSTER AUS LEIDENSCHAFT BORN IN BAVARIA WORN AROUND THE WORLD Photo: Tobias Friedrich Giant screen, expensive beamers and a full house: When Michael Martin presents his multivision shows, the locations are usually sold out. My children sometimes get asked at school what their dad's job is. The question made me think about what I have been doing for 35 years. The answer is simple: travelling, taking photographs and giving presentations. I pursue the same strategy that enabled me to start my career as a professional traveller back in the early 80s: I start thinking about a topic that will fascinate me for several years (whether an audience will be interested is secondary) and start travelling and and shooting photos. When I have collected photos and stories, I put multivision shows together and write books thereby recouping my expenses. My presentations on the Sahara, Ténéré, Africa s deserts, and the deserts of the world clearly illustrate the central theme of deserts and that the scope has become ever more extensive. With Planet Desert, I have now reached a global level. The question of Why has a lot to do with the thrill of increasingly difficult challenges, but the main drive is my curiosity about the world. At an early age in geography classes, and later on when studying geography, I was interested in the wider picture and realised a global approach was needed. And trips taking me to the end of the world. Over the years, I have devoted ever more time, effort and expense to my projects. Planet Desert is based on 700 travel days. As the destinations are in extreme regions spread all over the world, one single journey was out of the question. So between February 2010 and March 2015 I headed off 40 times. Sometimes I only had a few days at home in Munich between trips, sometimes they were separated by a few weeks during which I gave some presentations. At such a rate, I could not plan the trips in detail and often all I had was a flight ticket and valid paperwork. I had to organise the rest once I was there. I had a rough idea of the route, but basically it was determined by light conditions and motifs. When I finished, I was sitting on a mountain of 300,000 pictures and 18 terabyte of film material. I would never have been able to deal with all the publications in the six months before the start of the tour. The work on the book, on the multivision shows, the TV films, exhibitions, calendars and articles commenced when I was half way through the project and on my travels. I give a great deal of consideration to the presentation of my photos. My goal was to present them bigger, better and brighter than ever before, so I invested a six-digit amount of money in screens, a super beamer and a perfect sound system. After the first winter tour, I must admit it was worth it. The multivision shows and the book are very successful. With each ticket sale I recoup a tiny fraction of the effort and costs. At some point during the second winter tour, I will break even and begin to earn an income. But all that is not so important. Most important is that I have seen the world to an extent only a few travellers have an opportunity to do and can then report about my experiences. << Planet Desert by >> Michael Martin. Price: Globetrotter order number: Presentation dates and tickets: Hanwag Tatra GTX Ein Trekking-Stiefel mit Komfort. Der leichte Aufbau ist erstaunlich stabil für vielseitige Touren im mittleren Schwierigkeitsbereich. Er ist in vier Leistenformen Standard, Narrow, Wide und Bunion erhältlich.

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