Each person develops his or her own romantic relationship with the North. Some relationships are successful, and some are not. The more you learn about this place, the more you think about it in your "normal" life.

The stakes grow each year and with every expedition; this includes your friends, health and family. All this is like a past life. I am not claiming that this will happen to everyone, but it is becoming harder and harder to get rid of an inexplicable world that all of us encounter here. I cannot describe this because I'm not as talented as [polar geologist and writer] Oleg Kuvayev. I always perceive these latitudes as the Arctic, rather than the North. To my mind, these territories have a feminine character. I have been working on this island since March 2016, and I have recently come back here after a vacation. I had to wait two weeks for a helicopter to arrive and take me back to mainland Russia.

Did my expectations come true? Four people, myself included, arrived here, and I was the only one who stayed. They also signed two-year contracts, but none of them is here today. Their expectations were not met. Despite everyday difficulties and logistics problems, calm work and an easygoing lifestyle are the main local dividends.

A female musk ox and her newborn calf, which entered this world right before our very eyes, left our settlement a few days ago.

He is as big as an average-sized dog, but bleats like a baby sheep

Yesterday, we returned from the Krasny Flag (Red Flag) lodge in the tundra. While staying there, we repaired an old girder, a garage and other facilities. The day before yesterday, we saw a wolf pack of about nine animals moving in formation toward the lodge. They looked like a motorcycle gang or an invading 13th century Mongolian army, howling and barking like crazy and showing no sign of fear or even caution.

I felt uneasy when the distance between me and the nearest wolf was reduced to about 300 meters. I switched on my snowmobile, and its roaring engine stopped the wolf pack in their tracks. Through my binoculars, I could see several full-grown male wolves tell the younger members of the pack to back off. They moved slowly toward a nearby hill, looking back all the time, then disappeared behind it.

On the morning of that same day, we discovered fresh wolverine tracks. After all these exotic finds, a scared-looking female bear and her two cubs born earlier this year did not look completely out of place, as we approached the town.

I can definitely say that now I am safely back on the island, the official ceremony is over, and let's see what happens next

We spend a lot of time trying to maintain our infrastructure. A polar bear is bound to visit some facility and break something there, and the six of us have to repair all this stuff.

We stop telling lies because we no longer need them. This is not some Young Pioneer squad whose members should moralize with each other. People will simply treat you differently and keep in mind that you have this weakness. All our projects are a collective effort, and it would be strange and pointless to try to invent something in this situation.

I am not trying to prove anything to myself or others on the island

I am not trying to scale new heights so that I will have something to boast about later on. But I consider self-development to be important.

The island will change everyone. This experience is bringing me closer to the person I want to be.

This summer, I will go to the Arctic for the seventh time. In the past, I visited the geographic North Pole five times, as well as the Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land Archipelagos accommodating the national park.

During my first Arctic expedition, I stood on the deck of the icebreaker almost all the time and tried not to miss anything. Franz Josef Land made a huge impression on me. When the islands showed up on the horizon, I felt like a trailblazer and was ready to shout "Land ahoy!"

The first expeditions were highly emotional, and almost everything impressed me. Then it dawned on me that this was my work, combining romantic and routine aspects in equal measure. But I never stop feeling surprised.

My colleagues who have been to the North Pole several dozen times still admire the Arctic

This region always has some surprises up its sleeve, including abrupt weather changes that you never see in mainland Russia or a solar ray that pierces an ice-floe. We are used to watching clouds and wondering what they look like. The same is true of Arctic icebergs.

This place reeks of outer space. You are virtually separated from civilization, you are inside a cramped ship sailing toward the Top of the World. And the local landscapes are completely different from what you are used to seeing. Quite often, we can see clouds looming low, and one gets the impression of floating above the ground or the sea.

Despite difficulties and your desires, being human is the most important aspect of work in the high latitudes

This is an endurance test because there are absolutely different situations. Absolutely reliable persons whom you can trust 100 percent are in very high demand here. Apart from complex weather conditions, the region is swarming with predators. We depend on each other to stay alive. The Arctic prefers people with a sense of discipline who can keep their word, just like in mainland Russia. Nobody is here by chance.

Nature in the Arctic is so grandiose that people feel very fragile here. The icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (Fiftieth Anniversary of Victory) looks like a small boat against this backdrop. One realizes that this power of nature has been here before you and will remain after you are gone.

I very much like to watch small birds called dovekeys. While standing near a bird colony, one gets the impression that they are laughing at you. But this is just an auditory illusion. The funny thick-billed guillemots are called Arctic penguins. The whales are mesmerizing.

We were lucky last year because Greenland whales swam past the icebreaker. I took no pictures, and I simply forgot about everything

They often ask me: "Where do you think you are going? It's cold over there, and you have to wear your coat and hat even in the summer." They are absolutely right. The Arctic greets you with snow, rain, fog and winds. But the Sun ultimately shines, and you realize that you are ready to forgive the Arctic for everything just to be able to experience these thrilling five minutes.

It's hard to come back after the expeditions. You are holding a ringing telephone for the first time in months, and you don't know what to do with it. But we get bored two or three months later, and we start planning new expeditions.

I have always wanted to lead a full-fledged life filled with discoveries, ordeals and powerful human personalities who will never let you down in times of trouble. This was how I became a surveyor and a topographer who surveys the terrain and uses this data to draw maps of the vicinity.

I have worked in various Russian regions, and I have acquired professional experience. And what's more important, I have acquired life experience while working with members of a field team, people who seem so different at first glance but who eventually form a close-knit group.

Far away from civilization, in forests and fields and during stifling heat and biting frost, I could feel the pulse of life and my vitally important mission

And when they suggested that I work in the Arctic, I did not hesitate for a second. Working with scientists was an extra incentive, and I had to accomplish some unconventional tasks.

That was how I made it to Cape Baranov Ice Base's research station, Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Bolshevik Island, operated by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. This is almost 200 kilometers north of Cape Chelyuskin, the northernmost continental tip of Eurasia. People working for 12 months here conduct year-round scientific observations, and they keep the station going.

This is my fourth expedition to Severnaya Zemlya. Everything thrilled me during my first tour of duty. As time marches on, newcomers stop acting like trailblazers and start gaining insights into the local climate and territory.

They say that the Arctic forgives no mistakes. My experience prompts me to agree

To succeed in the Arctic, people must be reasonable, unemotional and reliable, and they must be ready to do anything at the station or during fieldwork. The Arctic tests polar explorers time and again, with quiet weather giving way to gale-force winds. Add to this various unexpected encounters with polar bears near icebergs.

Work is our top priority. Each day has a grueling schedule where every minute counts, and there is no time to feel bored. Month after month passes unnoticed, and, all of a sudden, a ship arrives, bringing replacements for the station. And you have no choice but to climb aboard and put up inside your cabin, as the ship takes you back to mainland Russia.

I have my own time-tested methods for adapting to civilization: I try to see as many positive things around me as possible and to been restrained when responding to rare manifestations of human weakness around me.

I have been living and working in the North for a long time. While still a university student, I joined an expedition to Kolguyev Island. We left our plane and experienced powerful winds and biting cold. Everyone felt cold, and I decided this was the right place for me.

In 2013, I volunteered to work in the Arctic for the first time, and I later became a member of the national park's staff. I can say that this is my dream job because it is impossible to take pictures of such animal species anywhere else but here above the 80th Parallel. These photos help make history.

Just like many of our co-workers, I sign up as an inspector in summer. I protect the Arctic from tourists and vice versa.

In my opinion, the fewer people in the Arctic, the better

We try to explain to the park's guests that instead of trampling on the flowers, they should walk on the sand or stones. Unfortunately, people are not used to treading carefully when it comes to Mother Nature. But most tourists understand us.

I am planning to work in the Arctic for the next few years. There are many ideas and projects, but Nature itself sets tough deadlines for photographers. I like the way everyone perceives information about the Arctic. No matter where you go on a lecture tour, everyone is extremely interested in the park.

People who spend a lot of time in this territory are a bit detached from reality. In 2014, I worked for two and a half months on Heiss Island. We had no Internet access and no telephone or radio communications. So, we received no news at all. In the first two weeks, you feel the ultimate crunch, with your mind craving information. Later, you no longer want to sift through all that "media trash". You quietly read books and watch films that you have brought with you.

A ship delivered newspapers two months later. At that time, I decided that I did not want to return to the world down below. This is the other side of our work: people lose all touch with civilization

It is very hard to come back, you are seriously disoriented. For example, you develop an acute sense of smell after spending two months in the Arctic, and you are unable to breathe in your home city.

People working here become well-disciplined. You learn to watch your tongue because you can break your leg anytime. And who will drag you to safety? A person you have recently offended? Stories about the exploration of the North contain a lot of useful information. Unlike mainland Russia, the concepts of good and evil are very clearly defined here.

The Arctic is extremely dynamic. One and the same place can look absolutely different. Today, it is covered with fog, a rainbow floats above it tomorrow, and a bear will arrive here the day after tomorrow. All this is filled with magic. I no longer know how to stop...