About Werner Kruse

Werner Kruse is a polar expedition guide, photographer and filmmaker who has spent more than two decades on the road, working in over 130 countries. Since 2018 he has completed over 50 voyages in Antarctica and four Arctic seasons as Assistant Expedition Leader, photographer and guide — seven-plus years of hands-on experience across both polar regions. He is based in Cape Town, South Africa, working across television, documentary, commercial and corporate productions between expeditions.

His career began in photography, training at Port Elizabeth Technikon while shooting freelance for the newspaper Die Burger, then assisting renowned fashion, advertising and documentary photographer John Wilke. In 2004 he moved into filmmaking in Cape Town and later completed a certified professional film editing course in Los Angeles. The documentary work that followed took him to Petra, Machu Picchu, the Great Barrier Reef, Rapa Nui, Spitsbergen and Iceland, along with his enduring favourites, the Hawaiian and Tahitian islands, where he also spent time as a snorkel guide on Tahaa.

On every polar voyage, Werner produces the expedition film — video, photography, timelapse and animated landing maps woven into a single record of the trip — consistently one of the emotional highlights for guests and crew alike.

His documentary credits include wildlife and expedition films across Africa, and his feature "The Boy from the Wild" premiered at the Royal Geographic Society in London and continues on the festival circuit. Conservation — particularly of wildlife and the ocean — remains central to his work: his images of Gentoo penguins in Antarctica were featured by National Geographic, and his annual return to the ice remains one of the highlights of his year.