Michael Wilkins
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Photograph of a dark-furred arctic fox sitting in deep snow, facing the camera, its near-black winter coat contrasting against a pale white background.

The Blue Morph

Westfjords, Iceland · January 2018

1D X Mark II, 400 millimetres, f 5.6, 1/500 of a second, ISO 1250

An arctic fox that never got the memo about turning white.

Most arctic foxes go white for the winter. The blue morph doesn't — it stays this smoky charcoal all year, which in deep snow makes it the most visible animal in Iceland. I lay down in it and waited; the fox was far more relaxed about the arrangement than I was. Almost no colour in the frame at all: dark fur, white ground, and a pair of eyes doing the work.

Part of Iceland in Winter, a series.