Most people, if asked to describe their life’s most memorable moment, might share something profound but ultimately recognizable: getting ready for their wedding; a sunrise at the Grand Canyon; a really, really great baseball game.

The Canadian photographer, who was raised in an Inuit community of some 300 people, has devoted his storied career to documenting the animal inhabitants and breathtaking landscapes of the polar regions. For him, extraordinary moments—like running naked across the nighttime tundra as 50,000 caribou tear through his camp, or being fed penguins by a leopard seal—are all part of the job.

A job which, for Nicklen, involves more than one kind of action. A dedicated conservationist, Nicklen co-founded SeaLegacy, a collective of visual storytellers