SYSTEMS IN EXTREME COLD
RICHARD MARK DOBSON
- Photographer · Filmmaker · Visual Storyteller -
PATHFINDERS
Introduction
For more than thirty-seven years, I have worked around the world as a documentary photographer and, more recently, filmmaker, telling stories about people, places and the lives they lead.
Pathfinders is the natural evolution of that journey—an initiative exploring ordinary people who have chosen extraordinary paths and built lives shaped by purpose, curiosity and commitment.
The project focuses on individuals who have found meaning through mastery, service, resilience and curiosity: mountain guides, conservationists, adaptive athletes, wildlife specialists, traditional craftspeople, outdoor educators, search and rescue volunteers and others whose work reflects dedication and purpose.
Through photography, film and conversation, Pathfinders looks beyond what people do to explore why they do it, asking a simple question at the heart of every story:
What kind of life is worth living?
In a world that often celebrates visibility, wealth and status, Pathfinders turns its attention towards those who quietly dedicate themselves to worthwhile work, protect landscapes, preserve knowledge and demonstrate that there are many ways to live a meaningful life.
I am seeking conversations and collaborations with organizations, communities and individuals whose work reflects these values.
Rather than approaching this as a traditional assignment or commercial commission, my intention is to build relationships first—spending time learning, observing and documenting the people and places I encounter.
In return, I aim to create thoughtful photography, films and stories that share their work with a wider audience and celebrate the values behind what they do.
Pathfinders is built on the belief that some of the most meaningful stories are not found in the spotlight, but among those quietly following their own path.
Pathfinders
Ginsos Magiau - Kota Balud , Sabah, East Malaysia. 2024
Ginsos Magiau— The Mountain Knows His name
Ginsos Magiau has spent more than half a century walking the slopes of Mount Kinabalu.
Beginning as a porter at fourteen, he went on to become a mountain guide and, eventually, a respected Dusun elder. But his story is about far more than climbing. Ginsos belongs to an older relationship with the mountain—one shaped by respect, memory, ancestors and the belief that Kinabalu is not simply a place to be conquered, but a living presence to be honoured. Now in his seventies, he continues to guide, work the forest and return to his small mountain retreat among the coffee bushes. For Ginsos, the mountain has been a companion throughout his life. He knows its trails, its moods and its temperament. And perhaps, after all these years, Kinabalu knows his name.
Pathfinder - Mountain Elder. Ginsos Magiau
To be published on YouTube,
12 August 2026
Jurg with one of his eight Celestron Telescopes - Sutherland, The Karoo, South Africa
Jurg Wagener — Rediscovering Wonder
Jurg Wagener’s story is a reminder that a new path can begin at any stage of life. After decades working as a bank manager in South Africa, he reached a point where the security of his career no longer provided the sense of purpose he was looking for. Together with his wife Rita, he moved to the small town of Sutherland and began building a different kind of life—one shaped by simplicity, curiosity and connection.
What began with a single telescope and a desire to understand the night sky became something much larger. Beneath one of the clearest skies on Earth, Jurg now shares the wonders of the universe with visitors from around the world, guiding them through the stars, planets and mysteries above. For him, stargazing is not simply about astronomy; it is about creating moments of wonder and reminding people of their place within something far greater than themselves.
At 78 years old, Jurg continues to learn, adapt and share his curiosity with others. His story reflects the spirit of Pathfinder: not a search for fame or achievement, but a life shaped by choosing a different direction, following curiosity and finding meaning in the act of sharing what you discover.
Ajmal in Wolvedans, Namibia 2024
Ajmal Samuel — Defying Limits, Discovering Possibility
Ajmal Samuel’s life is a story of continually redefining what is possible. A former military cadet, entrepreneur, endurance athlete and adaptive paraglider, Ajmal has spent decades challenging assumptions about limitation, resilience and human potential.
After a road accident left him paralysed from the waist down, he rebuilt his life through curiosity, determination and an unwavering belief that circumstance should never define possibility.
From building technology companies in Hong Kong to crossing continents by handcycle, racing on the water and learning to fly,
Ajmal’s journey is not simply about overcoming adversity—it is about purpose, perseverance and choosing to keep saying yes to life. His story reflects the very essence of Pathfinder: an individual who has found his own path, and whose life raises a question we all share: what are we capable of when we refuse to accept the limits placed upon us?
Pendulum Control Trailer
Year of Production 2023/24
Pendulum Control Film
Year of Production 2023/24
Professor Rubidge holds the piece of concrete he discovered as a three-year-old on his grandfather’s farm, convinced it was a fossil. That childhood moment sparked a lifelong fascination with the ancient world and set him on the path to becoming one of the world’s leading palaeontologists.
Professor Bruce Rubidge — Custodian of Deep Time
Professor Bruce Rubidge has spent his life listening to stories that began long before humanity existed. As a palaeontologist, he has dedicated decades to uncovering the ancient worlds preserved beneath the landscapes of South Africa’s Karoo Basin—a place where rocks reveal the extraordinary history of life on Earth.
For Bruce, fossils are not simply fragments of bone preserved in stone. They are clues to a much larger story: the evolution of life, the forces of extinction and survival, and the immense journey that eventually led to our own existence. His work invites us to step outside the narrow timeframe of human experience and consider our place within a much older, more complex world.
Walking across the Karoo landscape, Bruce searches for traces of creatures that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, patiently reconstructing vanished ecosystems from the smallest pieces of evidence. The rocks become pages. The fossils become witnesses. The landscape becomes an archive of deep time.
Bruce represents a different kind of Pathfinder—not an explorer travelling across continents, but a guide travelling backwards through history. His journey is one of curiosity, discovery and stewardship: preserving the memory of worlds that disappeared long before us, so that we may better understand the fragile world we inhabit today.
Gwen Rea, inside her Ford Bantam Home from Home, at the Countrry park, Campsite, Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa.
Gwen Rea — Finding Freedom On The Road
Gwen Rea’s life is a story of choosing a different path when the one she knew disappeared. After experiencing profound personal loss, including the murder of her father and the death of her husband, Gwen could have allowed tragedy to define the years that followed. Instead, she chose movement, curiosity and a life lived on her own terms.
For more than a decade, Gwen has travelled across Southern Africa in her “bucket” — her vehicle and home — camping beneath open skies, photographing the landscapes she loves and sharing the stories of the places and people she encounters. With little more than the essentials, she has discovered a different kind of wealth: freedom, connection and the ability to embrace each day as an opportunity.
A photographer, writer and self-described “professional camp queen”, Gwen sees her journey not as an escape from life, but as a deeper engagement with it. Her work is a celebration of the beauty of her country, the resilience of its people and the belief that there is still wonder to be found beyond the familiar.
Gwen represents the spirit of Pathfinder: someone who transformed loss into purpose, traded certainty for curiosity, and discovered that sometimes finding your way forward begins by simply taking the next step.
Pathfinder - Gwen Rea
To be published on Youtube
Late August 2026
Belinda Tu Toit, sits in the tea garden at her B&B business, The Stoep. , Nieu-Bethesda, The Karoo, South Africa.
Belinda du Toit — The Courage to Care
Belinda never came to Nieu-Bethesda looking for a quieter life. She came looking for a place where compassion could have a face, a name and a place to belong.
After a lifetime working in helping professions, she and her husband settled in the small Karoo village believing they had found somewhere people could live more slowly and more closely connected to one another.
Instead, Belinda found invisible boundaries—between wealth and poverty, visitor and resident, privilege and exclusion—that challenged everything she believed about community.
Rather than looking away, she stepped towards them.
Today, her work is shaped by a simple conviction: that every person deserves to be seen, welcomed and valued. Through practical acts of kindness, community projects and an unwavering commitment to those often overlooked, she has become both advocate and friend to the people she calls "the real folk"—those born in the village, whose stories are rarely part of the picture presented to visitors.
Her work has not always been comfortable. It has brought criticism, isolation and opposition. Yet Belinda remains guided by the same quiet philosophy: "I never arrive. I just believe in daring to care and learning to share."
In a world that often confuses community with convenience, Belinda reminds us that belonging is something we create through courage, empathy and persistence. She does not claim to have the answers. She simply chooses, every day, to care.
For Pathfinder, Belinda represents a different kind of explorer—not someone searching for distant horizons, but someone willing to cross the invisible boundaries that exist between people. Her journey reminds us that perhaps the greatest adventures are not found in wild places, but in the difficult, often messy work of building a more compassionate world.
Idil at home proudly presents her watercolour paintings.
Idil Sheard — A Life Building Bridges
Idil Sheard has spent a lifetime quietly bringing people together. A teacher, translator, painter and longtime resident of Nieu-Bethesda, she has devoted her life to building connections—between languages, communities, generations and the stories that shape them. Rather than seeking recognition, she has found purpose in preserving culture, sharing knowledge and creating places where people feel welcome.
After moving to the Karoo, Idil became part of the remarkable transformation of Nieu-Bethesda from a fading rural village into one of South Africa's most distinctive cultural destinations. For more than twenty years she ran a restaurant that became a meeting place for visitors and locals alike, translated Athol Fugard's The Road to Mecca into Afrikaans so it could be heard by township audiences in their own language, and continued to paint, read and nurture the creative life that has always sustained her.
Life has asked much of Idil. She has faced loss, family struggles and hardship with quiet resilience, never allowing difficulty to overshadow gratitude. Her story is not one of dramatic triumph, but of steadfast kindness, curiosity and the belief that a meaningful life is built through friendship, generosity and the simple act of caring for others.
Idil represents the spirit of Pathfinder: someone who has never sought the spotlight, yet whose life reminds us that the strongest communities are built by those who patiently create understanding, one conversation, one painting and one act of kindness at a time.
Pathfinder - Idil Sheard
To be published on YouTube,
September 2026
Dhanada at home with his wife Babita and his son Anish. Shatin. Hong Kong. 2020.
Dhanda Mishra— A Second Spring
There are moments in life when we believe the most important chapters have already been written.
When our careers have settled into routine. When our ambitions have quietly given way to responsibility. When we begin to think that change belongs to younger people.
Professor Dhanada Mishra believed he was simply taking a short break.
He didn't yet realise he was about to begin one of the most rewarding chapters of his life.
An invitation from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology was meant to be a brief interruption—a single year away from India. A chance to return to research after years spent managing projects and administration.
Instead, it became something far more unexpected. Hong Kong did not simply offer him another place to work. It offered him another way to live.
He rediscovered the joy of scientific research.
He discovered mountains and forests hidden within one of the world's great cities.
He learned to cycle through the hills of Sai Kung.
He returned to music.
He became an athlete.
He found friendship, generosity and a home far from home.
Even two remarkable dogs became unexpected teachers, reminding him of the quiet virtues of loyalty, contentment and unconditional affection.
What began as a professional assignment slowly became something much more personal.
A rediscovery of curiosity.
Of health.
Of wonder.
Of the simple pleasure of beginning again. We often imagine reinvention belongs to the young. Professor Mishra reminds us that life rarely follows the timetable we invent for it.
Sometimes the most important journeys begin after we think we've already arrived.
This is not simply the story of an engineer, a scientist, or an academic.
It is the story of a man who travelled to Hong Kong for one year...
and found a version of himself he thought had been left behind.
His name is Professor Dhanada Mishra.
Pathfinder - Professor Dhanada Mishra
To be published on YouTube,
September 2026
Published Editorial
GEO (Germany), GEO (France), GEO Special (Germany),GEO (Russia) GEO Saison (Germany), Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung, Financial Times (UK), National Geographic Adventure (USA), National Geographic Traveler (USA), Toyota Infront Magazine (UK), Landrover ONELife Mag (UK) Guardian (UK), Restaurant Magazine (UK), Guardian on Sunday (UK), MERIAN Magazine (Germany), 100 Ideas Jardin (France), Conde Nast Traveler (USA), Air France Madam (France), Outside Magazine (USA), World Traveler (USA), New York Times, Departures (USA), International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Asia Inc (Hong Kong) Discovery (HK), Expression (Amex Publishing), Islands Magazine (USA), Forbes Magazine (USA),Travel & Leisure (USA) Town & Country (USA),Orient Magazine (Hong Kong), Morning Calm (Korean Air), Silk Road (Dragon Air) Business Traveller (Hong Kong), Business Traveller (UK), Mandarin Oriental (HK), Outside Magazine (USA) Lufthansa Magazine (Germany).
Published Advertising
Couldrey Jones (Hong Kong), Thompson’s (HK), Couldrey Jones (HK), Couldrey Jones (HK), BATES Advertising (Thailand), Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory (South Africa), Grey Advertising (SA), BLGK BATES Advertising (HK), Ogilvy & Mather (SA), Mc Cann Erickson (SA), Network (SA), Saatchi & Saatchi (SA), SMLB Leo Burnett (SA), The Agency (SA), Grey Advertising (SA), DMB&B (SA), King James Advertising (SA), Ogilvy & Mather (SA), TBWA Fusion (SA), TBWA Paris Nissan Z350 ‘cops’ Cannes ’05 TBWA Paris Spontex Cannes Silver ’05,TBWA Fusion, Jupiter Drawing Room (SA), Joe Public (SA).
Published Corporate
Business Enterprises Dong Fang Hotel Brochure China, HKTDC (Hong Kong Trade Development Council), Hill & Knowlton H.K. Ltd, Re-Act Communications Credit Lyonnaise, Hilton Hotel Hong Kong, Dalat Resorts Inc, Dalat Pine Lake Golf Course, Island Shangri-La Hotel. Hong Kong, Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel Hong Kong, Park Lane Hotel Hong Kong, DWC Tang Development China Club-Peking, International Herald Tribune China Summit-Beijing, DWC Tang Development. China Club Peking, Shanghai Tang Hong Kong, International Herald Tribune-Korea Summit, Stocks Leisure Resorts. Bakubung, Kwa Maritane, Andersen Consulting (SA),TheYamu Thailand, Movenpick Jordan.,Abu Dhabi Golf & Equestrian Centre, PearlValley golf estate Cape Town, New World Hotel Saigon, Ramana Hotel Saigon, DWP Saigon, Veolia Water Systems, Ale Heavy Lift UK, Strategic Marine Australia.
NGO’s
Greenpeace Africa, Medicine Sans Frontiers, British Red Cross.
Books
Karoo Moons ‘A photographic journey’.
Films
Pendulum Control.
Winner Palandino D'Oro Sports Film Festval 'Best Extreme Film' 2025
Awards
Cannes Lion festival and D&AD for his advertising work, and has been included in the prestigious London Association of Photographers awards 2007 & 2008 and SILVER 2009.
Pathfinders is always looking for new stories and new conversations.
If you are part of an organization, community or profession dedicated to conservation, traditional craft, outdoor education, exploration, environmental stewardship or any other pursuit shaped by purpose, curiosity and service, I would love to hear from you.
Every Pathfinder begins with a conversation, and the best collaborations are built on shared values, mutual respect and a genuine curiosity about the lives we lead.
LIFE CHRONOLOGY
1963
Born. Bradford, England
1975 – 1985
Johannesburg South Africa
1985 – 1989
London
1990 – 1997
Hong Kong
1997 – 1999
Johannesburg South Africa
2000
New York
2001 – 2003
Cape Town South Africa
2004
Paris
2005
Cape Town
2006
Seoul
2007-2008
Cape Town
2008-2016
Saigon Vietnam
2017
Phuket
2018-2022
Penang Malaysia
2023
Taipei Taiwan/Philippines
2024-2025
Penang Malaysia
