Meet the expedition doctor who photographs his travels
Life on the road: Australian medical professional Andew Peacock works as an expedition doctor -- he goes on trips to some of the world's most rural and dangerous locations. Pictured here: Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Photographing his environment: But Peacock doesn't just save lives -- the doctor is also a keen photographer who takes stunning snapshots of his travels in extreme environments: "It's equally as important for me as the medical work I do," he tells CNN Travel. Pictured here: Peacock at work in the Antarctic.
Courtesy Laurence Topham
New cultures: Peacock says the best thing about his job is that -- because he's working not just traveling -- he can fully embrace the culture. "You have a real decent amount of time to interact with people in these interesting countries," he says. Pictured here: Peacock caring for a young local boy on the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea.
Courtesy Tom Scheid
Mountains calling: Peacock started working on expeditions after he developed a passion for rock climbing, which lead to a love of mountaineering. Pictured here: Peacock injecting the knee of an elderly Sherpa woman in Nepal
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Mental and physical: "I really enjoyed this new kind of challenge that was much more about adventure, but still quite physical, and obviously also really mental," Peacock says. Pictured here: Iceberg, South Georgia
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Change of path: Once Peacock had experienced these thrills, he couldn't go back. "That took me away from what you might call a regular medical career," he recalls. "I started exploring options for getting involved in expeditions and being able to do adventure activities at the same time as taking care of people in remote environments." Pictured here: Norwegion fiord cruising with Lindblad Expeditions
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
First experiences: "Initially what took me to the mountains was I volunteered to work as a doctor in India," explains Peacock. "I was working for the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala up in the North." Pictured here: Sea kayaking in Antarctica.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
High pressure: After this first experience in high altitude environments, Peacock worked in Nepal for the Himalayan Rescue Association. Pictured here: Iceberg, Antarctica.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Mountain management: "That gave me an entry to the world of altitude illness, looking after people in the mountains," he says. Pictured here: Manaslu, Nepal
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Photography passion: Peacock first started photographing his travels when he went to India and Nepal. "I took 50 rolls of slide film with me. I'd always been interested in photography," he says. Pictured here: an Emperor Penguin in Antarctica
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Image outlet: Peacock's images featured in the Lonely Planet image library, now owned by Getty Images. "Suddenly I had a few images that were published in their guide books, that gave me a real focus for an outlet for photography," remembers Peacock. Pictured here: Lemaire channel, Antarctic Peninsula
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Worldwide snapshots: Now Peacock explores both photography and medical opportunities -- his ideal jobs combine both. "The trips that I was taking and continue to take were very much with the idea of looking for good compositions and good light," he says. "Trying to tell a story and producing hopefully some very interesting images for people to see." Pictured here: Elephants seal portrait
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Social media takeover: Peacock posts his snaps on social media, with captions telling stories from his expeditions. The photographer says there are positives and negatives of the social media takeover. Pictured here: Denali, Alaska
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Changing worlds: "I think it has fundamentally changed the world of photography, I think most people probably agree with that. It's made it more accessible which is awesome," Peacock says. "But I think there are so many images out there, I think it's just made people a bit numb to the world of photography." Pictured here: Adelie Penguin, Ross Sea, Antarctica
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Keeping it real: To get people's attention, Peacock tries to innovate with his images: "I very much try and keep things real," he says. "In the sense that I'm not manipulating images to produce something that didn't really look that way to begin with. I'm also just trying to tell that story of what I experienced." Pictured here: Sumo wrestler, Tokyo.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Showcasing scenery: Peacock knows he's lucky to visit stunning places across the globe. "I often do get to go to interesting parts of the world," he says. His photos showcase this scenery for people who can't necessary travel to these places themselves. Pictured here: Single Cone peak, New Zealand.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Alaska affinity: Peacock has spent a lot of time in Alaska and has a particular affinity for the American state: "I've been to Alaska for the past couple of summers, northern summers," he says. "This year I worked as a volunteer ranger, medical ranger, for the national park service in Alaska, on Denali which is the highest peak in North America." Pictured here: Helicopter rescue 14000ft camp, Denali, Alaska
Andrew Peacock
Incredible experiences: Peacock understands his job comes with great privileges. "People have as one of their goals in life to climb Denali and here I was volunteering as a park ranger. So again I got to understand a bit about the life of a mountaineer on that mountain." Pictured here: Ranger team bonding, Fairview Inn, Talkeetna, Alaska
Andrew Peacock
Renaissance man: Peacock wants to encourage people to engage in all their passions. Pictured here: King Penguins, South Georgia
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Pursuing passions: "If people have passions in other directions I'd certainly encourage ways to pursue those," says Peacock. "Even when you're a bit older [...] It's not impossible to do that later on in life as well." Pictured here: Tanzawa Mountain range, Japan.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Flexible schedule: That said, Peacock is aware he is lucky to have an accommodating lifestyle, which allows him to travel. "You need to set up a flexible schedule and I'm very lucky that I have a wonderful wife who loves to travel and who is also an adventurer, a rock climber," he says. "There's quite a few pieces to that puzzle, of how you might go about being a bit multifaceted, but certainly for me it works quite well." Pictured here: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Fascinating areas: One of Peacock's favorite trips was when he traveled with a group of ultra runners. "They were running 70 kilometers a day and I was one of the medical people involved in that journey," he says. "I was only there for 3 months but we traveled through Turkey and Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan -- really, really fascinating areas of the world." Pictured here: Ultra-runners, Turkmenistan.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Photography and travel: Peacock and his American-born wife split their time between the USA and Australia: "I've recently been added to the staff as a photo instructor for Lindblad Expeditions, who are an adventure travel company that run a fleet of ships around the world and their expeditions often have a real photography angle to them for their guests," says Peacock. Pictured here: Ship's doctor for Lindblad Expeditions in Antarctica Cary Shaffer.
Courtesy Andrew Peacock
Australia and America: When he's back in Australia, Peacock has a more "conventional" job working in the emergency room. He hopes to continue pursuing both strands of his career: "It's an awesome way to travel -- and I also enjoy working in the emergency room when I work in Australia and so if I can continue to combine those two things then that's great," he says. Pictured here: Joshua Tree National Park, California