No question about it, Bad Boys of the Arctic is a photograph with character; it always elicits a smile from those who encounter it. More light-hearted than many of Thomas D. Mangelsen’s prints, the truth is that this picture of a mother polar bear with her two male offspring speaks to a core conviction of Mangelsen’s—that all animals are sentient beings, replete with personalities, language and range of emotions. “They are not others; rather, we are enjoined in their community of life,” Mangelsen says.

Mangelsen witnessed the threesome as they walked along the shore of Hudson Bay, Canada where one laid down to scratch his back on a snow covered chunk of ice. This moment only lasted for a few minutes and the bears continued their journey north. Annually, for ten years, Mangelsen would meet with dear friend and famed Arctic explorer Fred Bruemmer, the late, great authority on polar bears.

“I learned more about polar bears from Fred than anyone else. He opened up their world to me,” Mangelsen says, noting that the pair collaborated on an acclaimed book Polar Dance: Born of the North Wind intended to advance global respect for bears and issues affecting their survival.

The book features Bad Boys of the Arctic and a number of Mangelsen’s other award-winning images from the Great White North.