Zender Bruno
08.07.1997
Bruno Penguin Zender
Switzerland
Born 08.09.1945
Biologist-photographer, 08.07.1997 got lost and froze during a hurricane at the Mirny station
***
The legendary photographer, traveller and adventurer, also known as Mr. Penguin.
Bruno Zehnder is our planet’s top penguin photographer. He dedicated most of his life to Antarctica.
Bruno was born in Switzerland in 1945. He loved penguins ever since he was a child, and that affection lasted a lifetime. At the age of 5, Bruno became a fan when he saw a picture of the bird and spent 25 years longing to meet one. He travelled half the world before it happened. Bruno journeyed through all of Russia and Asia, and visited Japan. He taught German and English to the Japanese.
In 1975 Bruno went to Antarctica for the first time. He served as a steward on a Danish ship. When the vessel made landfall, and the photographer met the penguins, he was overwhelmed by their noisy greeting. He would later describe that moment in his diary and call it a ‘religious experience’, no less.
Bruno enjoyed his first success at a photo exhibition in Japan. Zehnder’s funny penguins were everyone’s favourite, thus providing him with perpetual glory and the means for the trips to come. It was a triumph. People would recognise Bruno in the street. According to his friends, ‘the Japanese looked at him as if he were Michael Jackson.’
With time, Zehnder’s name became widely known: his shots graced the covers of National Geographic and The Times; many a series of credit cards were issued with the images of Zehnder’s penguins. He crisscrossed all of Asia, went to postwar Vietnam, got worldwide recognition and lots of awards. Still, Antarctica and penguins remained his main focus in life. Bruno went back to the Southern continent 20 more times: he visited polar stations of Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, the USA, Denmark and Russia.
In 1994, Zehnder wintered in Antarctica for the first time. He stayed at the Russian Mirny station. Two of his large-scale photos were signed by him as a memento for Russian explorers and are still there on the wall.
Having returned after winter, Bruno changed his official name and became Bruno ‘Penguin’ Zehnder. At 50, he lived in New York as a hermit. He would succumb to depression, and it became progressively longer and more severe as time went by. In one of his diaries Bruno wrote: ‘It’s positively clear: at this point I either die or go to my penguins. Antarctica will succeed in cleansing my mind.’
In 1997, Zehnder left America to spend another winter at the Mirny station. He told his brother Guido it was going to be his last trip to Antarctica. Bruno was getting ready to write a book and was missing a single unique shot. He wanted to capture the birth of a little penguin amidst the Antarctic blizzard. He said: “I really have to get one more shot: a penguin-chick as it hedges out of its egg during the Antarctic storm.”
On July 7, 1997, Zehnder was taking pictures of a penguin colony 2 km away from the Mirny station. The weather deteriorated dramatically, and a storm hit. In Antarctica it is a common occurrence – everything can change in a few minutes: complete stillness turns into a blizzard that blows clouds of snow, and you cannot see beyond a few paces.
Radio operators contacted Bruno via a portable transmitter: ‘Come back immediately, the weather’s getting worse.’ He replied he was on his way. However, the snowstorm struck very suddenly, and they got another message from Zehnder in an hour: he got lost and could not see anything. Rescue teams began searching for him right away, the explorers were bound to each other with a rope and moving in a single train.
Mirny is located on an ice barrier with a sheer cliff face. You can only reach it in one place. Bruno had to walk back on foot, 2 km over ice, and get to a certain point. But he was stuck in the blizzard and could not find the way up.
Eventually, when the battery of Zehnder’s transmitter ran out, they lost contact with him.
In two days, when the storm had passed, the explorers found Bruno not far from the ice barrier, just 100 m from the place that he had had to locate. He was lying on his back, on ice, with arms spread wide.
When they opened the will in New York, it turned out that Bruno had asked to be buried in Antarctica… Now, on Buromsky island, where Adélie penguins nest, there lies the sarcophagus of Mr. Penguin, the famous Swiss photographer.
Switzerland
Born 08.09.1945
Biologist-photographer, 08.07.1997 got lost and froze during a hurricane at the Mirny station
***
The legendary photographer, traveller and adventurer, also known as Mr. Penguin.
Bruno Zehnder is our planet’s top penguin photographer. He dedicated most of his life to Antarctica.
Bruno was born in Switzerland in 1945. He loved penguins ever since he was a child, and that affection lasted a lifetime. At the age of 5, Bruno became a fan when he saw a picture of the bird and spent 25 years longing to meet one. He travelled half the world before it happened. Bruno journeyed through all of Russia and Asia, and visited Japan. He taught German and English to the Japanese.
In 1975 Bruno went to Antarctica for the first time. He served as a steward on a Danish ship. When the vessel made landfall, and the photographer met the penguins, he was overwhelmed by their noisy greeting. He would later describe that moment in his diary and call it a ‘religious experience’, no less.
Bruno enjoyed his first success at a photo exhibition in Japan. Zehnder’s funny penguins were everyone’s favourite, thus providing him with perpetual glory and the means for the trips to come. It was a triumph. People would recognise Bruno in the street. According to his friends, ‘the Japanese looked at him as if he were Michael Jackson.’
With time, Zehnder’s name became widely known: his shots graced the covers of National Geographic and The Times; many a series of credit cards were issued with the images of Zehnder’s penguins. He crisscrossed all of Asia, went to postwar Vietnam, got worldwide recognition and lots of awards. Still, Antarctica and penguins remained his main focus in life. Bruno went back to the Southern continent 20 more times: he visited polar stations of Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, the USA, Denmark and Russia.
In 1994, Zehnder wintered in Antarctica for the first time. He stayed at the Russian Mirny station. Two of his large-scale photos were signed by him as a memento for Russian explorers and are still there on the wall.
Having returned after winter, Bruno changed his official name and became Bruno ‘Penguin’ Zehnder. At 50, he lived in New York as a hermit. He would succumb to depression, and it became progressively longer and more severe as time went by. In one of his diaries Bruno wrote: ‘It’s positively clear: at this point I either die or go to my penguins. Antarctica will succeed in cleansing my mind.’
In 1997, Zehnder left America to spend another winter at the Mirny station. He told his brother Guido it was going to be his last trip to Antarctica. Bruno was getting ready to write a book and was missing a single unique shot. He wanted to capture the birth of a little penguin amidst the Antarctic blizzard. He said: “I really have to get one more shot: a penguin-chick as it hedges out of its egg during the Antarctic storm.”
On July 7, 1997, Zehnder was taking pictures of a penguin colony 2 km away from the Mirny station. The weather deteriorated dramatically, and a storm hit. In Antarctica it is a common occurrence – everything can change in a few minutes: complete stillness turns into a blizzard that blows clouds of snow, and you cannot see beyond a few paces.
Radio operators contacted Bruno via a portable transmitter: ‘Come back immediately, the weather’s getting worse.’ He replied he was on his way. However, the snowstorm struck very suddenly, and they got another message from Zehnder in an hour: he got lost and could not see anything. Rescue teams began searching for him right away, the explorers were bound to each other with a rope and moving in a single train.
Mirny is located on an ice barrier with a sheer cliff face. You can only reach it in one place. Bruno had to walk back on foot, 2 km over ice, and get to a certain point. But he was stuck in the blizzard and could not find the way up.
Eventually, when the battery of Zehnder’s transmitter ran out, they lost contact with him.
In two days, when the storm had passed, the explorers found Bruno not far from the ice barrier, just 100 m from the place that he had had to locate. He was lying on his back, on ice, with arms spread wide.
When they opened the will in New York, it turned out that Bruno had asked to be buried in Antarctica… Now, on Buromsky island, where Adélie penguins nest, there lies the sarcophagus of Mr. Penguin, the famous Swiss photographer.
Family's archive photos
