Framing the world through a viewfinder to find yourself

An interview with NIKON Ambassador Jenny Wong

My very first polar bear sighting, on my first and hardest expedition to date in the high Canadian Arctic off the coast of Nunavut camping on sea ice. • Shot with: Nikon D800 Nikkor 200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6 shot at ISO 160, 1/400s, f/ 14, 500 mm.

Jenny Wong is an intrepid Canadian photographer who specializes in adventure, travel, wildlife, and commercial photography. Her personal passion lies in using her craft to spread awareness about the frontlines and last-lines of climate change in the Arctic. 

We spoke to Jenny Wong about her work and her adventures as a Nikon Ambassador.

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A puma mother, Rupestre, in Patagonia • Shot with Nikon Z 9, NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S shot at ISO 2500, 1/1250s, f/6.3, 800mm

photoED: Your work and life involves constant travel. How do you decide where to go next?

Jenny Wong:

Travel is indeed a big part of my life, most of which is assignment work with durations varying from a few days to a few weeks. While it doesn’t always work out every year, I try to take one month for a personal trip to pursue exploration for the sake of exploration, to find stories outside my current narrative, and to take photos simply for myself. I think my guide for what comes next has been this idea that I have one life with many expiration dates. There is a timeline before my knees expire and multi-day treks are no longer possible, a time when my body will be less forgiving to the chilblains and bumps of the sea ice. There’s a window when certain destinations are safer to visit or more welcoming to the Canadian passport that I hold, a pressing timeline when nature seems to be expiring before my eyes.

photoED: What do you love most about sharing stories through photography?

Jenny Wong:

Photography is a means of communication for me. Images convey the textures and emotions that lie between lines of text. From the inception of an idea, to the creation in the field, to sharing it with the world — you grow, you change, you are impacted by the place, the creatures, and the humans you meet along the way. Through creation I experience my own story. I am shaped by it and, frankly, I love the human that I’ve become because of it.

photoED: Whose work has influenced yours?

Jenny Wong:

I am inspired by photographers who have great work but who are also phenomenal people engrossed in meaningful work.

In the Canadian high Arctic where I have had the pleasure of spending some time, Michelle Valberg is not just a household name because of her phenomenal images and storytelling, but also because of the various programs she has been associated with that have made measurable impacts on the lives of people I have met.

Ami Vitale’s images and stories show an emotional interface of humanity and the wild that have moved her to embark on non-profit work, raising millions to benefit stories she hopes to change.

I had the pleasure of meeting these two incredible women at the Nikon Ambassadors Summit in New York and they are bigger icons to me now, than ever before. They both exist in a genre of photography that men still dominate, and they not only thrive through their work, but also actively aim to make positive impacts wherever their camera takes them.

The summit of Reinebringen, Norway. • Shot with Nikon D750 Nikkor 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 shot at ISO 400, 1/80s, f11, 16mm.

photoED: What makes a good photograph?

Jenny Wong:

I think a great image happens when the ideas of the mind are felt by the heart. They don’t have to always be pretty, but I think they should communicate something that makes you linger and evoke emotions and ideas. Perhaps a bit controversial, but have you asked yourself, in the endless zombie scroll of beautiful images on social media, WHY we pause on a certain image? Why do we stop to read the caption? Why do we yearn to learn more? There’s an intangible impact that certain images have on us, and it isn’t so simple to sum it up as being just pretty.

Puma kittens in Patagonia. • Shot with Nikon Z 9, NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S shot at ISO 2500, 1/1600s, f/6.3, 800mm.

photoED: How has working in photography influenced you personally?

Jenny Wong:

This is like the chicken and the egg riddle. At some point photography was a means for me to see the world, and at some point it pivoted to being a means for me to share the world and advocate for the things that matter to me. The experiences I have had and the people I have met along the way have shaped who I am and who I hope to be. I think, as cliche as it might sound,

looking through the viewfinder as you frame the world, you end up finding yourself.

photoED: What has been your favourite or most personally impactful project or adventure?

Jenny Wong:

My first journey through the high Canadian Arctic was one of the most extreme adventures I’ve been on. We commuted 400 km on sea ice via snowmobile from Clyde River to Pond Inlet. We travelled for 3 days before we settled into our camp at the floe edge, where we stayed for another week.

During the commute we had the honour of visiting an old Inuit settlement and seeing the ancestral burial grounds, as explained by my friend Noah, whose family once resided there. He shared stories linked to some of the most remote places on the map. Every day I felt vulnerable to the sea ice. I followed step by step behind Noah; yet, still the odd time my foot broke through. The story of climate change and a warming Arctic felt very personal to me as my vulnerability hinged on the quality of ice beneath my feet. This expedition was not just the inception of my advocacy but also a reminder to decolonize the language around conservation. 

Only tracks in sight. Polar bear prints approach a seal breathing hole. • Shot with Nikon Z7 Nikkor 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0. Shot at ISO 200, 1/800s, f/14, 24mm.

photoED: Tell us about your hardest or most challenging day as a photographer. What keeps you going on a hard day?

Jenny Wong:

The Arctic will always throw a wrench in your day beyond what you could ever plan for. Having buffer time is always the only solution. Once, in Arctic Bay during the spring for a tourism project sea ice shoot, I had no luggage because it was lost with the airline for five days. Between the anticipated whiteout conditions and the lost time waiting for my warm gear to arrive, the days to get what we needed seemed to be escaping. When we finally got decent weather for landscape photography, further anxiety set in because the wildlife I was looking to photograph did not appear.

Polar bear tracks teased me almost daily. I am sure we all have had similar moments and the best we can do, particularly with wildlife, is to focus on the bigger picture. To stay hopeful that tomorrow will be more fruitful. It is easy for anxiety to take the driver seat as your vision narrows in on expectations for epic images; but, if you take a step back and appreciate the location you are in, you can pivot to a new horizon to stay productive.

photoED:  Where do you hope photography will take you in the future?

Jenny Wong:

In a world of sensationalist headlines, I always aim to share stories of success that serve as inspiration for positive coexistence solutions. 

My focus is sharing the stories behind heroic local efforts to coexist with nature to gain the further support needed to continue and amplify conservation work.

A lodge at Lagos Pehoe, in Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. • Shot with Nikon Z 9, NIKKOR Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S, ND32.

photoED: What advice do you have for photographers just getting started?

Jenny Wong:

Understand who you want to be as a photographer. Every image you share delivers a piece of you tucked into it. Regardless of the genre you shoot and the constraints you may face, there’s a mark of who you are in the images. From a business perspective this becomes your brand. At the end of the day, people can copy your style and techniques, but who you are is something that is unique to you. When you can put that down on paper, internalize the idea, it becomes a guide to how you shoot, who your clients are, where your images end up, and how you approach the industry.

Expand your skill set, but never lose sight of who you are as a photographer.

Qarlinngua, which translates to “like pants” is a sea stack in the high Canadian Arctic, Nunavut. • Shot with Nikon Z7 Nikkor 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 shot at ISO 320, 1/640s, f5.6,16mm.

photoED:  We simply have to ask …  what are your top travel tips or hacks for travelling with photography equipment?

Jenny Wong:

My kit varies with each assignment, and I am all about the Goldilocks kit: not too excessive, not too little, but just enough for my photographic goals.

A rule of thumb is that all the lenses and camera bodies (the breakables) need to fit into the capacity I have for carry-on luggage and I need to be able to manage it myself and lift it into the overhead bin, without help. If I can’t manage my gear in an airport setting, it’s unlikely I’ll have success when I land in the field. A good backpack, cube system, straps, and camera clips can make a world of difference when you push your physical limits outdoors. Accessibility to your gear and your workflow has to be dialled in. It is easy to pack everything and the kitchen sink, but sometimes that cogs up your workflow. No one wants to be fumbling gear around when inspiration hits. 

The view from inside the Iglutuk pulled by snowmobile with expert navigation from our Inuk guide Don Taqtu. • Shot with Nikon Z7 Nikkor 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8, ISO 200, 1/4000s, f5.6, 32mm.

GEAR UP

What camera and equipment do you most use now? What’s your favourite lens? Tell us about your experience using NIKON products.

Jenny Wong:

My two main camera bodies are the Nikon Z9 and Z8. As a storyteller and generalist, picking a favourite lens is like picking a favourite child, I think they all have their strengths and a time and place for them to shine. 

Nikon lenses, particularly for wildlife such as the 400mm f2.8 and the 600mm f4 both with built-in TC (Teleconverter) are amazing, but I started my career on the more accessible 200-500mm, so there’s always a place in my heart and in my kit for that.

My first DSLR was the Nikon D90. At the time it was a camera that I could grow into, with a fleet of lenses that ranged from the economically feasible to legendary dreams. Fast forward to today and that still rings true. These Nikon lenses will get the job done, whatever niche you are in. For long glass, I shoot with the new Z series 100-400mm, 180-600mm, and the 800mm PF lens.

Accessibility is something that is important to me from a community perspective. I wouldn’t be where I am if I couldn’t afford to take my first steps. 

Nikon has designed lenses by listening to the voices in the field. Examples of this are the built-in TC on the premium telephoto primes for wildlife photographers and the (relatively) lightweight and compact PF (Phase Fresnel) long glass. PF lenses bend light using diffraction, and allow the optical system to be more compact and lighter in weight.

Both of these attributes are game changing for wildlife photographers. Aside from the dreamy long glass, I never leave home without my Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8.

Jenny Wong

See more of Jenny Wong's work - HERE.