Expedition January 2027. Kenya. Fourteen days across three worlds — savanna, summit, the Jade Sea. Maximum 12 guests. Private executive or family retreat. Or join individually as part of a small group of like-minded explorers. Led by Dirk Collins and his long-time expedition partners. The days are earned. The place is preserved. Invitations by request only. Link in bio. #Planet5 #OriginExpeditions #Kenya2027 #mountainpreservation #dirkcollins
This is not the best photo I have ever taken or will ever take. But it is one that stays with me.
I first heard of the Aral Sea in my teens. Central Asia. The Silk Road. The ancient crossroads of the world. It conjures visions of vast landscapes, camel trains, fortresses built from sand. The kind of place that exists more vividly in imagination than on a map.
In the 1960s, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake on Earth. Now, it is all but gone. Cut off from its sources. Drained by decisions made from far away, by men who should have known better.
I had to see it for myself. No project. No assignment. Just a need to stand at the edge and try to understand how humans could cause such profound change. How people could create such devastation in so little time.
So I traveled to Uzbekistan. To Karakalpakstan. A place most atlases forget to name. I drove across a dry landscape for the better part of two days, past rusted ships that once carried fish and through villages that no longer remain. Along the way, I met people who remembered how it was. Who live with how it is. I saw the salt dust that blankets the land like a fresh skiff of snow. I saw the rivers that were once there and I coughed on the toxic chemicals that blow on the wind.
And then I stood here at the far edge of a forgotten sea, watching the full moon rise over another world.
Still beautiful.
This is part of what has always drawn me to my craft. Not the perfect frame, but the honest one. The places that remind us what is at stake and what still remains.
Here’s to the year ahead. To the places worth protecting and to seeing clearly what we still have time to save.
#Planet5 #PreservationPhotography #TheArtOfBeingThere
For years, people have asked, “Can I come with you?”
The answer has always been no. It’s a project. Too complicated. Too remote. Schedule’s always full.
That changes in 2026.
I’m opening four expeditions. Nepal, Kenya, Patagonia, and Switzerland. Small groups. The kind of access that takes decades to build.
Remote base camps. Expedition vessels. Helicopters. Wild lodges. Yaks. Camel routes that predate memory.
The art of being there.
Spots are limited. If this speaks to you, link is in bio.
#TheArtOfBeingThere #OriginExpeditions #Planet5
It’s been a few years since I posted here. Stepped away, didn’t disappear. The time off wasn’t time off. Film projects. Television projects. Expeditions. A lot of miles around the world.
I was also looking for what comes next. Not interested in repeating what’s comfortable. Still creating, still learning. Still enjoying the search.
More soon.
The smaller we come to feel ourselves compared to the mountain, the nearer we come too participating in its greatness. // Arne Naess
Thank you @tompkins_conservation , @kristine_tompkins , #dougthompkins for your legacy and leadership. May the world take notice and follow in your footsteps.
@highsteph above Kane Creek. It has been a mixed up year so far, with no time at home, not much skiing and a lot of everything else. Definitely not complaining - just different.
The home range looking magnificent! I am grateful for the opportunities I get to visit and work in many of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet but moments like this remind me of how incredible the backyard is.
