Have you ever wanted to leave everything behind and head into the unexplored wilderness, have you felt that irresistible call of nature…? You probably have, but in the next moment, you remembered that your stove is on or that you have to go to work early tomorrow. But a young Serbian woman, Tamara Šuša, turned escaping into the wild into her job… and she is doing great!
Today, she is one of the most respected photographers of untouched nature in America, a participant in numerous wilderness expeditions, and she has just returned from her latest one, where she stayed and filmed in Antarctica. Just in time to publish and promote her first photography book!
“I grew up in Belgrade, graduated from the Philological High School, and started my studies at the Faculty of Philology. Shortly after that, in 2009, I moved with my family to Chicago, where I continued my studies at Northeastern Illinois University. During my studies, I began to practice photography professionally, first through the music scene. I worked for React Presents, the organization behind major festivals like North Coast Music Festival and Spring Awakening,” Tamara Šuša begins her life story for Serbian Times.
In 2012, I won a trip to Aspen, Colorado, which I visited that winter. That experience was decisive—as soon as I finished college, I decided to move to Aspen, where I live and work today, surrounded by mountains that have become a central part of my life and work.
In the meantime, you also decided to get an education for what you grew to love along the way…
“That’s right! As my work turned more and more toward a documentary approach and fieldwork, the need for further education arose. Because of that, I completed master’s studies in photojournalism and documentary photography at the University of the Arts London, which had a great impact on the way I think about photography today, story representation, and the photographer’s responsibility.”
How do you define your love for photography, what interests you most in that story?
“The love for photography was born from a desire to record the world around me—travels, nature, and the sports I participated in. Photography was initially a way to preserve moments and personal experiences, but over time it grew into a profession. Besides photography, I also deal with short documentary film. I am interested in mountain life, people who live in a close relationship with nature, as well as the challenges we face today due to climate change. Some of my short films have been shown at film festivals around the world, which is particularly precious to me because it opens up space for conversation and the exchange of ideas with audiences from different backgrounds.”
These days, you have also immortalized your photographs in the form of a book…
“My first photography book is called ‘Four Seasons in Snowmass,’ which is a small town in the American state of Colorado. Through that book, I wanted to show the place where I have lived for the last 10 years, the way I experience it: through the changes of the seasons, quiet moments, and the connection between people and the mountain.”
LIKE ON ANOTHER PLANET: Tamara on an expedition across Antarctica
What kind of photography interests you most privately?
“I am lucky that what interests me privately completely coincides with my professional work. I love to travel, snowboard, run in the mountains, and explore nature—and all of that is part of my daily life and my job. In general, it is important to me that through photography I bring people closer to nature and landscapes that they may never have the opportunity to see in person. Not to idealize them, but to remind them how fragile and worthy of attention these spaces are.”
What do you want to awaken in people through them?
“I hope that my photographs can awaken a sense of responsibility and a desire for nature conservation, because I believe that only what people emotionally connect with is protected. Because of this, I work closely with organizations that deal with educating children and adults about environmental protection. I believe that education is the key to long-term change and that art can be a powerful bridge to those topics.”
A few weeks ago, you were on an expedition near the South Pole, Antarctica. What did you film “down there” and what fascinated you the most?
“This was my third year in a row working as a photographer on a ski expedition in Antarctica. The ship we travel on is the only commercial ship in the world that takes skiers to this distant continent, and that experience is truly difficult to put into words. Skiing among penguins, whales emerging next to our boats, icebergs that constantly surround us—it all seems almost surreal. Every day we climb mountains to ski in completely untouched nature.”
FEWER PEOPLE HAVE SKIED IN ANTARCTICA… Than have climbed Mount Everest
“Antarctica is one of the last true expeditions on the planet, a place where you truly feel completely distant from the rest of the world. It is reached only after a two-day crossing of the Drake Passage, the most dangerous sea crossing in the world. It is the only place on Earth where wild animals are not afraid of humans—penguins move freely around us, and seals barely even notice us as we ski past them. The terrain for skiing is extremely demanding and dangerous. We move on glaciers filled with crevices and during the ascent, we tie ourselves into teams of five people each, due to the real danger of falling through the ice. It is often said that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have ever skied in Antarctica, which speaks enough about the uniqueness of that experience.”
CLIMATE CHANGES ARE VISIBLE: Tamara is a great fighter for environmental protection
“At the same time, staying in Antarctica is a powerful reminder of how sensitive these ecosystems are. As a photographer, I try to record not only the beauty of that space, but also its silence, fragility, and the changes happening there—because we often perceive Antarctica as distant and abstract, but in reality, it is directly connected to the future of the entire planet.”
You were, if I am not mistaken, on similar expeditions before. Where all have you traveled and what experiences did you have?
“I was on a similar trip to Svalbard, the northernmost inhabited island in the world, where we spent two weeks on a sailboat, sailing as far north as possible until the ice forced us to head back south. When it comes to ski expeditions, in March I traveled to Morocco with the goal of skiing the highest peak in North Africa. The mountain hut is reached exclusively through narrow mountain paths, and our equipment was carried by horses.”
ON FIRST-NAME TERMS WITH NATURE: Scenes of life near the southernmost point of planet Earth
“Most of my travels are connected to some kind of sporting adventure. Through winter sports, I stayed in the Kingdom of Lesotho in Africa, where I worked as a snowboard instructor, while in Chile I worked as a photographer at the Portillo ski resort. In Guatemala, I had the opportunity to spend a night on an active volcano and observe eruptions that happened every twenty minutes, and on the island of Madeira, I ran mountain trails with the Serbian national trail running representative, Lidija Radulović.”
FROM THE VOLCANOES OF GUATEMALA TO RUNNING THE RIDGES OF MADEIRA: Tamara continues her journey
What are your plans in life? What and where have you not photographed that you would like to?
“One of my personal goals is to snowboard on every continent—currently, I am only missing Australia. The next already scheduled destination for boarding this winter is Kazakhstan, a country I haven’t had the chance to photograph yet. When I think about the future, my goal is not just to reach new destinations, but to continue creating work that has meaning—work that connects adventure, a documentary approach, and care for the planet. Photography and film are for me tools for understanding the world, but also a call for attention, empathy, and responsibility,” Tamara Šuša ends her confession for Serbian Times.
And it only remains for us to wish her a happy journey on new adventures, which she will immortalize with her camera.
Author: Antonije Kovačević Photo: Tamara Šuša
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