Known for his awe-inspiring images from within the coldest climate on Earth, a New Zealand photographer has been praised by Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
To celebrate World Photography Day, Cook took to his social media to acknowledge the amazing photographers around the world - including Wellingtonian John Bozinov.
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"Happy #WorldPhotographyDay," he wrote. "We salute the talented photographers taking breathtaking images with iPhone all around the world, including these by John Bozinov (IG: JohnBozinov) in Antarctica."
Speaking to Newshub shortly after seeing Cook's compliment on Twitter, Bozinov said "it was a real surprise" to wake to the post on Monday morning.
"I had been talking to the creative team at Apple, and they told me they were going to do something for World Photography Day," he explained.
"But I had no idea it would be Tim Cook sharing that, so that was really, really cool."
With a spectacular eye for capturing penguins, seals, whales and skuas in their natural habitats, Bozinov has accumulated a following of more than 348,000 people on Instagram.
For six months of each year, the 27-year-old lives on a polar expedition vessel, spending time equally between Antarctica and the Arctic, working with a polar tourism operator as the photographer.
"I go to those places in their respective summers, so I was last in Antarctica until the end of March this year and my most recent trip was up to the Arctic, visiting Greenland, Iceland and northern Norway," Bozinov told Newshub.
"I got back in July from that trip so now I am just back at home in Wellington getting some rest and doing a bit of work back here."
Often shooting using only his iPhone, Bozinov said he will aim to capture as many different species and behaviours of as he can so people get a good overview of the wildlife down in Antarctica.
"I am trying to shoot quite simple and clean-looking photos of the wildlife, because I find those pictures are a lot nicer to look at on smaller screens - on your phone, for example.
With his iPhone photos, Bozinov is planning to put together a book of "iPhone photography in Antarctica".
"That book won't be ready until I've captured a good overview of the continent. There are still a few places that I have to go in Antarctica, and a few different species that I have to get photos of before I would feel comfortable putting that out as a good representation of that part of the planet."
With a natural affinity towards colder weather, when Bozinov was first getting into photography he found himself more inclined to visit places during the winter months because that's when he felt like the most comfortable hiking and travelling around.
He then got a scholarship to take photos in the New Zealand sub-Antarctic, in the group of islands between New Zealand and Antarctica.
"The similar wildlife got me hooked, so I thought that would be a great gig for me: working somewhere cold, where I could be out in nature how I like.
"And then I ended up finding this job, working in the polar regions - so it worked out perfectly."
Bozinov's next trip will see him journey down to Antarctica again in October for about four months.
Newshub.
