Mauritius surprised me not because it was as beautiful as expected, but because it proved far more layered — from lagoons and luxury resorts to cooler highlands, religious devotion and quiet scenes of everyday life.

Zanzibar first revealed itself to me through Stone Town — a place of narrow streets, slave history and overwhelming sensory impressions — before the island’s calm Indian Ocean resorts showed a completely different reality. This is a reflection on contrasts, memory and the parts of Zanzibar that stay with you long after the journey ends.

Having visited Svalbard in both summer and winter, I still think it is the most extraordinary place I have experienced in Norway. Glacier fronts, Arctic light, polar bear country and the feeling of travelling close to the edge of the world make it unlike anywhere else.

A reflection on how I try to photograph scale in the American West — from the open vastness of the Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend to the tighter sandstone drama of Antelope Canyon and Yosemite.