THREE years ago Antony Dubber had a job that was, by his own admission, 'boringly predictable.'
As head chef for a major British pharmaceutical company, he prepared canapés for cocktail parties and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for boardroom lunches.
Then one day, the 35-year-old was flicking through a catering magazine and was struck by a job advert that read: "I think you will find our freezer a little bigger than you're used to."
Today, Antony works in one of the most remote, dangerous and beautiful places on Earth — Antarctica.
As chef for the British Antarctic Survey, based at the Halley Research Station, Dubber — who took these incredible photographs of life at the bottom of the planet — is stationed with 14 scientists, engineers, doctors and support staff in a place so remote that in winter it is totally cut off from the outside world by ice.
Dubber said to Live this week: "The Antarctic winter runs from the end of February to the end of December. So far we have endured 100 days of total darkness and temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius.
"When the wind is blowing, it can feel 20 degrees colder than that.
"If you step outside, even for a few seconds, you have to make sure you are wearing goggles to prevent your eyes freezing shut when you blink.
"The Royal Research Ship Ernest Shackleton brings all the supplies we need at the end of February when it picks up the summer staff. Once it leaves, we're on our own.
"Summer is the busiest time down here. The summer is from December to late February and that is when I have to cook for 90 people each day.
"Now it is down to 14 people plus me, so it's much less stressful."
The Halley Research Station is Britain's leading centre for atmospheric and glacial research.
It was at Halley, in 1985, that the hole in the ozone layer was first discovered.
The base is 850 miles from the South Pole. Dubber, from Herts, earns £30,000 (FJ$85,718) a year. He says that, despite the winter, the night sky can be spectacular.
"Antarctica is extraordinary. This is my third year in the job.
"I love the cold and snow and the amazing auroras.
"The night skies light up with roaming satellites and shooting stars. It is only through pictures that you can give people a sense of what life is like here.
"People think of the Antarctic as endless white, but it is constantly changing."
He prides himself on preparing a varied menu, packed with as much fresh fruit and vegetables as possible.
He explains: "I have to figure out how much food is needed to last the winter. Everyone knows that once the supply ship leaves in February I can't just pop down to the nearest supermarket."
He'd have a long walk: the closest one is 2000 miles away — in Chile. Cooking in the Antarctic comes with its own challenges.
Most of the meat is frozen but Dubber has learnt how to make some of the fruit and vegetables last from February to August.
"We have huge freezers and dry storage larders. The only thing I miss is fresh herbs: they rot really quickly.
"I also miss bone-in meat. There is a no-bone policy here which is tied to the Antarctic Treaty.
"Food waste is buried in the ice and poultry bones might be infected with bird viruses that could affect the emperor penguin colony.
"The workers eat five times a day. They have to as the bitter cold burns up the calories."
British favourites like Typhoo Tea, Heinz baked beans, Jaffa Cakes, Bovril and HP Sauce are among the most popular treats.
Alcohol is strictly limited to two cans of beer a day with champagne reserved for birthdays and special holidays like Midwinter's Day (June 21).
After that the sun slowly starts making its way back to the southern hemisphere. Dubber rarely gets bored.
"There is a gym here and we watch a lot of movies and DVDs. We play a lot of pool.
"The only thing I miss is a bath. Every drop of water here is melted ice: every day we dig ice and melt it.
"We are allowed a two-minute shower each day. I've had three birthdays out here and each time I've camped out under the stars.
"The temperature was below 45 degrees Celsius but there's nowhere else on Earth I'd rather be."
* Source: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK