Armed Boarding In The Red Sea (Photographer & Producer)

What happens when a scientific expedition in the Red Sea is suddenly boarded by an unidentified, armed group?

In this episode, adventurer, photographer and documentary producer Ulrika Larsson shares her experience working on a marine science expedition near the Yemeni coast. She relives the moment the encounter escalated into a tense, hours-long ordeal, with passports confiscated and crew members taken away for questioning.

Ulrika has built a career that spans outdoor guiding, adventure leadership, documentary production, and underwater photography — and more recently, firefighting in Sweden.

We explore what drives that kind of career path, what it’s really like working in remote and high-risk environments, and why staying calm under pressure is often the most important skill you can have.

We then dive into her Red Sea expedition in 2023, documenting coral reef research near Djibouti and the Seven Brothers Islands.

With regional tensions rising, the situation quickly escalated when an unidentified group boarded the vessel.

Ulrika shares what happened in real time — the uncertainty, the decisions she had to make under pressure, and what it taught her about risk, responsibility, and working in unpredictable environments.

The same trip also led to a breakthrough moment in her photography — with one of her images later selected for a major ocean photography competition and displayed in Piccadilly Circus.

If you’re interested in documentary filmmaking, underwater photography, scientific expeditions, or careers in extreme environments, this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at what the work is really like.

Links: 

https://www.lwimages.com/

Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/lwimages_studio/

https://www.instagram.com/greenulrika/

Credits: 

Produced, Hosted and Edited by - Chris Baron

Images and Video Clips - Ulrika Larsson & Lukasz Larsson Warzecha

Intro Music - Music_Unlimited

Outro Music - VibeHorn

Topics covered:

Underwater photography, documentary filmmaking, Red Sea expedition, Djibouti, Yemen coast, armed boarding at sea, conflict zones, high-risk environments, interrogation, passports confiscated, firefighting.

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Transcript

Armed Men Board The Boat

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Suddenly, two of them they just jumped on board of our boat and they start running up the stairs. And I'm like, what is going on?

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Ulrika Larson was part of a marine science expedition in some dangerous waters off the Red Sea.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

We were just maybe a couple of kilometers off the uh German coast. We had been given the information that the Coast Guard was going to be kind of watching over us.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

They thought they were safe, and then more uninvited guests arrived.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

About two hours after that happened, they do come back with more people. Then it was definitely very beautiful if they were armed. And we were not 100% certain that they were Coast Guards because they would not be wearing the uniforms or anything.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Now this is no longer a routine check. This is something else.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

They were really, really, really uh angry and very, very upset. They came on board, they get the boat captain, they get a couple of the researchers, and they just take off.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Hey folks, and welcome back to another episode of No Ordinary Monday. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm your host, Chris Barron, and each week I invite a guest onto the show to relive their No Ordinary Monday story. An extraordinary event or experience that stands out across their entire working life. And like any good story, we'll reveal the path that led them there, will see what the job is really like behind the scenes, and at the end, discover the lessons they've learned along the way. Now, just a quick note before we dive into the story today, each of these episodes takes around 40 or 50 hours in total to put together. At the moment, it's just me doing all of it. That includes finding guests, digging into their stories, after recording, editing, mastering, and of course, getting out your eyes and ears every Monday. So if you've been enjoying the show and feel like buying me a coffee or maybe a beer, you can head to buymeacoffee.com slash no ordinary monday. I'll drop the link in the description as well. If you are able to support, you'll get a shout-out for the show, as well as my heartfelt thanks for helping me to continue to improve the show. Now, today's episode takes us into a multitude of projects. My guest today is Aureka Larko. Aureka has built a career that's anything but adventure. From working as an outdoor guide and running her own adventure business to producing and doing high-end documented projects in some of the most remote environments on Earth. Along the way, she's also worked internal, and more recently, she's also become a firefighter. At the heart of it all is a deep curiosity, a willingness to step into the unknown, try new things, and just figure it out as she goes. And as we heard at the start of this episode, that mindset will be put to the test on a scientific expedition in the Red Sea, when an unidentified armed group boarded their vessel and began taking members of the crew away for questioning. You're listening to No Ordinary Monday? Let's get to the show.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Thank you, Chris. Uh, thank you for having me. I am feeling wonderful. It's uh an amazing uh winter morning over here in Sweden, where I'm based. Uh I actually went out skiing yesterday, and this morning we have minus 10 uh degrees Celsius. So amazing winter wonderland outside my window.

Meeting Ulrika Larsson

SPEAKER_01 3:19

I'm so, so jealous. And uh it's it's the opposite over here. We've got tropical thunderstorms, so it's nice to know you've got some magical winter wonderland where you are. So um it's honestly it's so great to catch up again because um the last time that we worked together was a few years ago now, but it was on a series called Lift the Ice, uh, which was a really fun uh big documentary series about frozen parts of the world. Uh we had you and your husband Lukas come on, uh help us with some of the shoots. Lucas doing amazing cinematography, you're doing some amazing uh producing work. Um and I think you guys did, correct me wrong, you did like the Greenland shoot, you did Svalbard. What else did you do?

SPEAKER_02 4:04

Uh we also went to the most northern parts of uh Sweden, uh up in the Arbusko, up in kind of the Lapland area. Um yeah. Um amazing series, amazing work. Um it was great to get to know you there as well, Chris.

Childhood Plans And The Outdoors

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yeah, it's good, it's super that's what I love this job. You get to meet so many people from all over the world doing cool stuff. So it's it's great to be in touch again because you know, for this show, you know, I love to have all different kinds of people with different careers, different backgrounds, different experiences. And uh when I first started putting the show together, uh you were on my list of people that I really wanted to sort of touch base with. As well as Lucas as well. Um but also just because you know you have I mean when I knew you you had an amazing background and and had a cool job. But even since then, you've kind of gone on to do other things. So that's what I want to get into today. But I want to start back way back in the day, take us all the way back to when you were a little girl, I guess, growing up in Sweden. Did you have any I guess first take us back, what was it like growing up in Sweden, you know, as a little girl back then? And also did you have any inkling about what you wanted to be when you grew up?

SPEAKER_02 5:13

I mean, yes, uh of course I did. Uh for me it was very clear that I was going to become the person that is looking after the merry-go-round in an amusement park. That was kind of what I wanted to do when I was a little girl. And that was for many, many years. Yeah, yeah. Ask any of my relatives, you know. Uh they all remember because that was the only thing that I talked about, you know, when they asked me, what are you gonna, you know, be when you grow up? So yeah, I was going to look after the merry-go-round. And I'm sure that my plan, then I I can't remember this exactly, of course, but I think also that maybe I thought that I would get free tickets, you know, to be on the merry-go-round myself, you know, uh, you know, after closing time. Um, so yeah, so that's uh you know, that's what I was thinking a lot about. Yeah. And growing up in Sweden, I mean, I've had an uh an amazing childhood. It was kind of very safe and lots of fun, and I had, you know, always lots of friends and you know, good school education. I actually, for many years after that, I wanted to become an archaeologist. Um I've always been interested in you know history, and since I was a little girl also, I loved to be in the outdoors. Um my dad and my mom, they were parts of the scouts. So they always bought me when they went on you know different camps and you know different activities, you know, with the scouts. Yeah. So I'm thinking maybe I was thinking as well, you know, that I was going to be outside a lot if I was to become an an archaeologist.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

That's so cool. And I guess that that's definitely gonna feed into, I guess, you know, the next sort of phase of your life in some sense. Because uh what I love about your story is that there's so much to it, you know, there's a lot going on in your career uh thing. But I want, if possible, just to start with like a a career snapshot, can you give us like a little bit of like a 60-second primer of like what kind of jobs uh and careers you've had in your life so far?

A Career Built On Curiosity

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Well, that's the most difficult question, I think, Christina, because I've been kind of all over the place, you know, uh when it comes to my my jobs. But but basically, I mean, first, you know, growing up, uh I I had my first summer job actually when I was 13 years old. Um, when I was uh picking cucumbers and tomatoes, you know, in greenhouses and stuff. Uh that was the first time I ever kind of you know earned my own money. Um, and then over the years I've been working extra in receptions at you know different companies. Um I have been uh doing some kind of marketing research, you know, for other types of um uh business chains and um and then kind of working my way towards uh doing more things in the outdoors. You know, um I've been working a lot as a sea hiking instructor and guide, and you know, I've been running in my outdoor business when I was focusing a lot on uh sea hiking, rock climbing, uh mountain biking. I've been working a lot with the tourism industry, uh, with kind of global um uh trade associations for adventure travel as an example. And and then um I kind of slowly been going into you know the producing, photography, kind of a creative uh side of things. Um I have been freelancing a little bit as a journalist. Uh not many people know that because it's not something that I really talk much about, but I have. Um and um yeah, and and these days uh I also actually work uh part-time as a firefighter.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

Oh my god, that's amazing. Like just there's so many different what what I wanted to ask you actually, which is really interesting, is that you know, either it seems like you're you're searching for something that you haven't found yet in terms of career, or it's like you're evolving. Each time you get into a different career, it's like, what's the next thing? You know, what what can I move on to next? Or is it what is it, what what is it that, you know, because some people they fall into a job and they stay there for 40 years, 50 years and the same thing. And yeah, you know, they may be happy, they may not. But for you, it's a very different story. You know, you've jumped around a lot. And and what is it do you think that drives that?

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Do you know what? To be honest, Chris, I actually don't know the proper answer to that question. And it's actually not a question that I ever asked myself. And this might sound really strange or you that I'm that I'm making it up, but that's actually the truth. Um, I think for me, I've been very driven by you know curiosity, you know, and I've never felt in my life that I would not be able to do what I'm starting to get to get interested in. You know, I've never felt like I have limitations. I'm not saying this to brag. I'm not the you know, the word championship in anything, to be honest, you know. Uh, but I've always been curious to trying out new things without thinking that I would have those limitations that would actually tell myself, you know, no, you should you should not try that because you cannot do it. Um, you know, it's you know, I don't know, you know, Pippi Longstocking. Uh yeah, so she's she's you know she's a character when it's a really strong girl, you know, very independent, and is a Swedish author, Astrid Lingen, who wrote the stories, you know, the books about uh Pippi Longstocking. And Pippi Longstocking have this saying, you know, that oh, that is something that I've never tried. I'm sure I'm good at it. And you know, I I kind of like that approach, yeah, uh, to be honest. And I think that I've never felt like I'm running away from anything, I'm not escaping. I think it's more that curiosity that's been driving me. It's like, hmm, that sounds interesting. How does that work? I wonder if I can, you know, learn those skills or yeah, well, be a fire, yeah, exactly. You know, and then sometimes I have this thing that uh my friends they always laugh at me when I tell them this story that you know, so I used to be uh mountain biking a lot, and there's this kind of uh long-distance mountain biking kind of cup in Sweden, and I never signed up to become a professional, so I never got a license. You know, I was always you know the amateur kind of side of things uh when I was um participating in those uh mountain biking races. And one time I won a race, and I did not expect to win, but it just happened. And and then my friends were like, Oh my god, you should go pro, you know, you should, you know, you should join a cycling club, you know, you should do this and that, you should get your training scheduled together. And I'm like, Seek kayaking sounds fun. Maybe I should try seat kayaking. So I did, you know. So I think it it's yeah, I I think I'm just I just love trying out different things.

Becoming A Firefighter At 48

SPEAKER_01 12:16

So yeah, just insatiably curious in in a way of like I've always been again, like I'd love to jump into the firefighting thing because you know, that is something that a lot of people might go, oh, I wonder what it's like to be a firefighter. But for you, someone who um you know came to to that maybe later in your career, you know, like that's not something that naturally we're most people would be drawn to, but take us through, I guess. Okay, you've had a career as a producer and done amazing stuff. Suddenly you're like, firefighter, you know, I'm whatever age you are and whatever build build you are. Take us through the decision and how that how that's how that's gone.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Um during the pandemic pandemic, we me and my husband, we started thinking more about you know our careers, you know, what are our our legacy, what do we do as you know, people? Is there something that maybe um I can do to kind of not just help society, but I started to maybe feel that urge of wanting to do something that matters more. And uh I always loved, you know, to you know, to to exercise, to train, like I said, you know, to be out ofdoors. And I've also have dealt with a lot of people, you know, since I've been working as a guide and instructor over the years, and and it turned out that about one minute and 15 seconds, if I take my bike from their house, there's a fire station. And I was like, hmm, maybe I should get in touch with them. And out of you know, the blue, within you know, three or four months, I meet two guys who live here in the village, they both are firefighters, and I started asking them questions, and they said, You should apply, you should definitely apply. And I was thinking, okay, well, maybe I should apply. Um, I waited a few more months, and in the meantime, I was actually in a um long-distance ice skating uh accident where I popped my shoulder and broke my nose. And I was thinking, oh, maybe that just has to wait a little while. So a few months passed, and then when I started to feel better, I I applied and I did all the tests, you know, the interview, all you know, the physical test, you know, everything. And I passed. And so I was like, wow, this I'm I'm really excited. I was really excited, you know, today accepted.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

That's so cool. And I I don't often like to ask, but there's something I guess, as you've come to it a little bit later, just tell us that you know you're not maybe the usual uh you're you're slightly uh maybe an outlier for the usual applicants.

Teamwork And What Firefighters Do

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yes, yes. So uh apart from the fact that still in 2026, of course, the majority of the firefighters, I'm guessing globally, uh definitely in Sweden still, um, is made up of men. Um the numbers of female firefighters are on the rise, definitely in Sweden. Definitely. Uh, but I think many people still have you know the um the perception that firefighters are men, super tall, super strong, you know, big, bulky guys, you know, that you know are you know just the strongest in the world. Uh I am 48 years old. Well, actually, I turned 49 last month. I keep forgetting. And uh I am 162 centimeters tall or short, depending on how you look at it, uh, and I'm 56 kilos uh weight. But you know, Chris, the one thing that I find really uh interesting and exciting in all of this is that being a firefighter is all about being part of a team. And I think ever since I was a kid and I was playing basketball as an example, um I love the team spirit, and I think I'm a pretty good team player. Uh and I I just realized that we all bring different skills, you know, when we go on an alarm and I work with my colleagues, it might be a traffic accident, it might be, you know, uh suicidal uh attempt, it might be, you know, yeah, like a car crash, uh, of course, a fire, uh definitely, you know, and there's other things also that firefighters do. We don't only put out fires, there's so many other things that we do. But I just realized that being part of that team and how we help each other not just accelerate in that role as firefighters, but also that we do help each other out, we do the tasks that are tax uh tasks that are most suitable for for each one of us. And then that's how we make it happen. That how that's how we can make a really, really good job out there.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Yeah, like listeners may may remember an episode I did a while back with another firefighter, um, Christy Warren, who was very similar. You know, she was smaller frame and lightweight, and her colleagues were, as I said, these big strong guys. But actually, it was an asset to her, you know. Um, she, you know, because when you're going into a fire situation or many of these situations, if you're like six foot six and like 120 kilos, like you can't actually get into some of these spaces, you know. Exactly. As the smaller person, yeah. You're like, great, yeah, you can get in there and get the job done. I say it takes all shapes and sizes.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Yeah. And you know, also there's another thing that that people tend to forget as well, you know, something that is an extremely important skill to have also in the team, is actually to have that someone that can talk to anyone, that can, you know, hold someone's hand, you know, that can just make, you know, can de-dramatize, you know, the situation or diffuse the situation sometimes as well, you know.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

And um someone is get great with a chainsaw, you know, another one is great, you know, with you know, pe keeping people uh calm.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Um yeah, that's so true. That's so true. I I think it's super inspiring that um that you've gone off and become a firefighter. And it's it's important for for other women or or or even men as well to understand that it doesn't matter, you know, if you if you want to do something and you're interested in doing it, go and ask the question, start a conversation. You never know where it could lead.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Exactly. That and that's and I think you're putting uh the finger on on exactly the right thing there, Chris, when you say like go and ask, go and find out, you know, and do the test, you know. And if you I mean, I'm not just talking about you know becoming a firefighter, but you know, with anything, whatever kind of job or uh task or challenge it it it you know might be, you know, just try it out, you know, don't take it so seriously. Like if you fail, well it's not the end of the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

Yeah, and also, you know, with I just want to touch, you know, quickly on my age as well, you know, because I think also over the years, one of the things that I've heard many of my friends or people I meet that they said to me is like, oh yeah, I should have done that when I was in my 20s. And for me, it's like, well, why not do it now? You know, I was 48, like when I when I applied and I became a trainee, um, you know, that allowed me, you know, to join my colleagues on on uh alarms to see what it was like, uh to become a firefighter, which was extremely you know educational. It was extreme, extremely um exciting and interesting. Um but I think also it's never too late to learn new things. I think if you put that boundary on yourself, I think actually making a mistake. Um because there's still so many, and I still have many years left, you know, not just into firefighter, but in my life. And why should I stop being curious? Or why should I should I stop you know learning new things? Just because I'm getting a little bit older, according to society, you know.

What A Producer Really Does

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Well, that's the thing we're redefining age now. I think it's great, you know. Um, so I think following that passion is is something that you've done again throughout your whole career, as you mentioned. There's a few different careers that you mentioned early on that I think we need to jump into. One of them, again, is close to my heart, and I'm very passionate about is producing. You know, producing um amazing, you know, um documentaries, or you guys, you know, you and Lucas have done things beyond documentaries as well. But uh the thing that people might understand is the the role and the job of a producer is one of the most varied that you could possibly have. So just take us, I mean, your role as a producer, just kind of lay that out for us. What what were you doing?

SPEAKER_02 21:18

I mean, like you know, Chris, uh, we are the ones that uh we do everything behind the scenes, you know, and we we never get credit really for the hard work that we put in, right? Um if it wasn't for the producers, there would be nothing produced, basically. There would be uh probably no uh TV series or no documentaries or um no really amazing good photographs, you know, around in this world. I mean, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but you know. Um the the role of the producer is a lot of hard work. Uh it takes a lot of time. To become as organized as you really have to do. Of course, depending on the project, depending on the assignment, depending on, you know, lots of different factors. But I think we need to have so many skills on our um on our palette, so to speak, you know, to and it can be anything from keeping track of everything that not just needs to be done before we go and an actual assignment, you know, all the communication, all the pre-producing, all the planning. And then there you really need to also have not just the plan A, but a plan B and plan C and maybe something for plan D, you know. And that's the role of the producer, really to you know to have to have all those extra skills and be ready to turn plan A into a plan B that might, you know, everything being thrown up in the air, and you have to be the one that keeps everything together. And also, of course, the type of project that I have been working on with you know photography and filmmaking has, you know, had some kind of a connection, you know, with the outdoors, you know, with adventure or you know, science and research. Um so so it's been um yeah, it's been it's been great. I loved it.

Setting Up The Red Sea Expedition

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Absolutely. Well, you have had a successful career. You've had a great 10 years up until the story. Everyone's been struggling over the last you know five years, six years. Yeah. But you know, I think even before that, you've had extraordinary experiences throughout your your career. And on the show, we always like guests to come on and tell us sort of what we call like the not ordinary Monday story, you know, a sort of story that really stands out above all others in your career um for one reason or another. And um I I I kind of knew about yours a little bit before we I thought that might be the one you jump on, but I wonder if you could uh start start from the beginning and just paint us a picture uh of what happened on your in in your story.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

So having worked as a producer for for a few years together with Lucas, um, we got into this situation where we connected with a um organization that is based in Switzerland who does an amazing work to try to use science in the particular research about the the coral reefs in the Red Sea, use that kind of science together with diplomacy to drift the to get all the countries around the Red Sea to work together for the future of the coral reefs. Wow, and we were asked to join them on a uh assignment in Djibouti, uh East Africa, just at the at the southern entrance of the Red Sea. The thing was that they needed a photographer and a cinematographer, and usually in our business, Lucas is the photographer and the cinematographer, right? I've been shooting a little so so uh when we've been shooting um on previous assignments before we got that request, I had also taken up the camera. You know, I've been shooting you know behind the scenes pictures, I've been um also taking some photographs sometimes that the clients really liked and that they even used as kind of front covers on their you know catalogs and things like that. But it's like I have never you know really felt that I was the photographer, yeah. So here we run into a situation and we were thinking to ourselves, okay, we could of course send Lucas as the cinematographer, and we can get someone else to come in and do the photography, but then like at the same time, it's like, oh, it would be great to get you know, to you know, to both of us to get on this assignment. It would be great if both if we could, you know, get two salaries, you know, for one uh work, for one job. And so Lucas just said, no, no, no, uh, Ulrica will be doing the photography and I will be doing the cinematography. And I kind of looked at him like, yes, absolutely, let's do that.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

He didn't run this past you before. He just like no. Amazing. Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

And I was like, okay, so let's do that. So back to this is back in uh April 2023. So we uh went to Djibouti, we were there for I think just over a week or something like that, and we did this uh job together, and it turned out great. Um, I was super happy, Lucas was super happy.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

What was the what was the job like what did it entail?

SPEAKER_02 26:48

Yeah, so that first assignment with that organization was just an assignment where we went to the University of Djibouti and we basically we were filming uh a workshop for a few days. Then we uh took some of the students from that university uh to uh Musha Island, just outside of Djibouti City, and then they were taught how to snorkel and start kind of identifying different species underneath the water and everything, water and everything. It was it was great uh you know to be part of that. And because of the client being so happy with both the images and the videos, um they asked us if we wanted to come back and join them for a scientific expedition in November the same year. And I was like, oh my god, this is gonna be a completely different story. This is a complete completely different game, you know, for for me. Because the first assignment was I kind of felt pretty comfortable doing that. This one was going to be something completely different, uh, because we were gonna be on this um boat for 10 days, probably in rough seas, uh, with uh almost I think uh 15 scientists, you know, from different countries um around the Red Sea. And um, yeah, it was going to be a different uh different assignment for sure.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Did you feel like there was a uh a danger element to it as well, being in that region?

Photography Sparks The First Confrontation

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Well, yes, there was definitely, because just some time before the expedition was about to begin, um there the um there was starting to be a little bit of uh conflicts uh around Gaza. So actually the Israeli scientists that were gonna come and join the expedition, they did not.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Um and um so yeah, there was starting to be like unrest um and more kind of volatile uh situation in that area. So, and actually to be honest, earlier on that same year, um Lucas was supposed to go to Sudan uh also with this organization, but that's when the the violence broke out in in Khartoum. So he he basically can go. So um yeah, so and now thinking to myself as a photographer, I was like, okay, well, I got away with it once. Like, can I get away with it twice? You know, it's like having a little bit of a low, you know, self-esteem or low, low confidence, self-confidence. Um, but we decided to yes, we accept, of course. Sounds amazing. Then what happened was that when we arrived, we get this briefing on the boat, and we were going to be on the boat for 10 days, and we got the briefing, you know, safety briefing and everything. And you know, also getting you know all the paperwork in place that was not our um task, it was kind of the organization's task, but I knew there was really, really hard work because also when you go to different places and take sample, scientific samples, you know, there's lots of paperwork involved.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Yeah, of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

And also because of the uncertainty kind of in that area, because like I said, you know, we were just we were going to go to a small chain of islands called the Seven Brothers, which is just at the southern entrance, you know. So basically it's between Djibouti and Yemen.

unknown 30:28

Wow.

Passports Taken And Crew Questioned

SPEAKER_02 30:28

We had been given the information that the Coast Guard was going to be kind of watching over us, you know, like they were going to be there as kind of extra security, you know, as like, and we're like, okay. So we understood that, you know, everything maybe not is not kind of 100% calm, but yeah, okay, Coast Guard, that sounds good, you know. You don't think much more about it. I now I can't remember if it was on the second or third day. Because we went to one place and anchored with this boat, and then during you know, the days we went out in smaller kind of wooden boats, very simple ones, um, single engines. And and that's when we kind of scientists were doing the all the all the work. Then on the second or third day, we saw this big Coast Guard vessel, you know, uh from a distance, and we were thinking, oh, well, here they are, you know. Everyone was like, okay, well, this feels good, you know, they are here, you know, nothing can happen now. And if something happens, you know, we have a backup. You know, that's kind of we were all like fine and you know, happy on the boat, doing the work, uh, and everything. A couple of days later, there's a smaller boat approaching our uh boat, and it turns out that it is the Coast Guard stuff. Yeah, but they're all dressed in like regular t-shirts, you know, kind of shorts, and very kind of casual. Yeah. And um, I started because of course I was there with my big camera, you know, and I was like, Oh, okay, you know, this is also part of the story. Yep. I was thinking to myself, you know, so I started, you know, taking pictures of them. Uh and first they didn't see me, and suddenly they saw me and they started shouting. And I'm like, What are they shouting at me? Like, no, what am I doing wrong? You know, and uh suddenly two of them they just jump on board of our boat and they start running up the stairs, but they first they run past me, they say something to me that I don't really understand. They go past and they go one level up on the boat. And I'm like, what is going on? Um at this point, no, not that I could not that I could see them. I saw later that they were, but I couldn't see that they were, but uh yeah, yeah. And apparently that there was another guy uh on our team that had also been taking pictures of them. So they first ran up to him and they were really, really, really uh angry and very, very upset. And when I realized that they were upset because he had taken pictures of them, I was like, oh my god, they seen me with a camera, they know that I've taken pictures of them, and it turns out that that's really forbidden. Uh, you're not allowed to, you know, photograph any kind of authority uh, you know, stuff or you know, anything. Uh I ran into the big kind of hall, you know, the big space and in the in the in the boat. And I said to Lucas, where's the other camera? And he's like, What's going on? Because he had no idea. And I just had to, you know, speaking about having a plan B, I was like, what are they gonna do if they take my camera and they take the you know the memory card, they might start searching, they might be getting really upset about the whole thing, they might might want to confiscate, you know, the camera, whatever, you know, lots of things were going on, you know, through my through my head. So what I did was that I I ran really quickly uh into the little you know booth where we had our camera equipment, and I swapped cameras, and I was hiding the other camera underneath lots of other things, and I went straight back out because I I thought, like, okay, he cannot know that I have been somewhere else. He needs to believe that I've been standing here waiting for him with my camera. And I was really quick when I went inside to get um um a different memory card that it was from the day before or from early in the morning or whatever, you know. Because then he came down, he's like, Oh, give me your camera, you know, and he was shouting at me. And I felt that at that point I started to feel you know inside like a real stress, yeah. And uh, so he's like, uh, I want a camera, I don't want the camera. So I'm like, Oh, he cannot leave with this camera. I mean, like, what's gonna happen? Yeah, um, so I just started showing him, and Lucas came out as well, and we just started showing him, like flicking through the pictures. No, I didn't take any pictures, I didn't take any pictures, I promise, you know. Um, and luckily, after some time, I don't know, they were on the boat for one hour, they calmed down and they left. And after that, I started breathing normally again for an hour. So that was because, you know, like to be honest, I had no idea what was the real you know purpose. You know, why did they come on board? And we were not 100% certain that they were Coast Guards because they were not wearing the uniforms or anything. Yeah, it could be anything. Then what happened was that about two hours after that happened, they do come back with more people, everyone dressed up in the uniforms. Then it was definitely you know very visible that they were armed. They came on board, they get the boat captain, they get a couple of the researchers, and uh also one staff of the boat crew, I I think, and they just take off. L oh, and they get all of our passports.

unknown 36:11

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Yes, and um, so they uh went to the kind of vessel, and I think they were away for I don't know, two or three hours, and they were kind of interrogated, basically, you know, what we were doing there, you know, who's on the boat and why, what's the purpose, and and the crazy thing was that when eventually they come back, they said that the Coast Guard had no idea that these were this was a scientific boat, that they we were only researchers. Yeah, so somewhere along the line of communication, uh that information never you know was forwarded to to the Coast Guard. So here we are. We thought that we were safe and secure, that we had you know support from the Coast Guard. And and they yeah, and they I don't know what they thought, but they were definitely you know annoyed uh by our presence and what we were doing.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

It's a really tense situation, yeah. I mean for them for them as well. Like clearly they they've got I don't know, they've probably got orders that there is some unusual activity in the area. So if you see something unusual, go and investigate. And then you go to a boat with some strange people, with clearly foreigners, with cameras. They probably don't know whether you're spies or whatever.

unknown 37:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Oh my god. Did you have paperwork, like sort of permits or whatever? I guess it could be forged from the from their perspective, they they wouldn't care.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

I mean, exactly. We had all the paperwork that we needed. Um like I said, you know, if they were in you know the wrong kind of mood, you know, whatever, you know, they can just get those paper, uh papers and then and and and adding to the story is also because that entrance to the to the Red Sea, you know, in the southern parts, you know, uh a lot of the times we were just maybe a couple of kilometers off the uh German coast.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

And about a week after we got back uh from this assignment, that was when the HUTU rebels actually boarded one of those big cargo ships uh with a helicopter. And that was kind of the beginning of a very volatile period of time, you know, in that area with lots of uh cargo ships being um yeah. It was it was oh my god. Yeah, so I can understand that it was a tense situation also from the authorities.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

Oh my god. I mean, yeah, I mean, so many things are going through my mind. I mean, uh number one, very quick thinking. I mean, I've I've done with uh hostile environment training, you know. Uh you have sort of yeah, but you're you're just a natural, clearly. You just have an instinct for like what to do in these situations when you're like you have seconds to make a decision and you you just go, okay, I'm doing this, blah blah blah blah blah, get it done. Because if he'd seen that you had left, as you said, he would have you probably would have been interrogated as well. You'd be on the other boat.

SPEAKER_02 39:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

And and you know.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

And I would probably then be the only female, you know, in that kind of situation. And you know, I I tend not to think like that, but of course, sometimes it comes down to, you know, like, well, I I would probably be seen as, you know, the the most uh uh as the weakest one or you know, as you know, whatever. So yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Wow. Well, yeah, again, very good, very quick thinking, clearly, like because you don't know how you're gonna react in that situation. It's it's real fireflight kind of situation. And um, you know, I I remember doing the hostile environment training, and you know, I was with the crew that we were training with, you know, and we had one female producer. And the exercise that we had was to all get in a four by four and approach this sort of fake checkpoint. And um you know, so we had done we'd you know, I think maybe there was a group of twenty of us, and we'd go four by four into the car and they'd run through notes, and you didn't know what would happen when you reached the checkpoint. The the guy doing the training, you know, there would be armed guards there, there would be a sort of checkpoint leader. You would need to be drunk sometimes, you'd have to then you know de-escalate or the group that I was in had the female producer, and clearly that was like their target. And remember, in that scenario, he was removed from the vehicle and we just we weren't really told what to do in that situation. You just have to react, and then afterwards they would then debrief and say, This is what you did right. That's what you could have done better. Yeah. Um it's it is very scary.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

But um yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

What what did you I mean after that, did you you know what did you learn? Did you sit down with Lucas on the flight back and go, wow, that was um that was an experience?

Grief And Choosing Not To Dive

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Well, it definitely was. Um I mean, to be honest, of course, I will never do something like that again, you know. Like I think I kind of jumped the gun a little bit because I was thinking that this would be, you know, maybe a potential great part of the storytelling. Because I was thinking also, you know, like having you know the scientists, you know, get maybe even you know, meeting or you know, showing samples, you know, uh talking about the work, you know, to the Coast Guard. You know, I was thinking that could be, you know, a great kind of overlap, you know, uh, you know, in in storytelling. But I think to some extent also, you know, of course, I I will never if I find myself in a similar uh situation, I will definitely go and leave my camera. And like this is not enough for you know documenting. Um it's not worth it. Not definitely no, no, no. Yeah. Um, yeah. Absolutely. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

I and um I understand that obviously there's there was um there was kind of, I guess, a context to this trip as well, that it happened, something had happened before you'd left, which sort of make made this trip a little bit more difficult. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 42:24

Yeah. I mean, during this scientific expedition, then then the kind of core elements of this was you know that the researchers that we were going to uh work with, you know, they were going there to work uh a lot on the um the coral reefs. They were going to do 3D mapping, you know, eDNA samples, you know, water samples and um you know looking at you know marine pollutions and things like that. So of course it was going to be a lot of underwater work as well being involved. Lucas was going to do the underwater uh filming and also doing some underwater photography as well. And my plan was to do everything topside, but also, you know, to get in the water and um just kind of maybe document a little bit. Um kind of from the surface, exactly, from the surface, more or less. Um and unfortunately, uh what happened just about a week before we were going, I mean a couple of weeks before we were going, was that my uh grandfather died. He passed away. Um he was 93 years old, but he was just the most amazing grandfather, you know, that you can have. And he and I, we were very close. And uh he over the years, he's you know, he's it's really, really meant a lot to me. So I was very, very sad. And also, you know, during the pandemic, even you know, during the pandemic, we We got closer because I helped him a lot, you know, uh when it was like uh lockdowns and all that lockdowns and things like that, exactly. So yeah, I was really, really sad. And knowing then also that you know, going from this producer role where you of course you have to perform, of course. But the thing is also, you know, performing as a photographer, I had not really done a lot up till then, so I knew that I had a big kind of weight on my shoulders, and then adding that to that was you know the the death of my grandfather, was yeah, it was tough. Uh I was not really kind of in the best of state to actually go there, but at the same time I didn't want to cancel.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

Um, and I also didn't want to tell anyone on the team or you know, on the boat, or you know, in that, you know, because I didn't want them to, you know, I don't know, treat me differently, or you know, I and I didn't want to, you know, have questions, you know, how are you feeling, what happened, you know, blah blah blah. Or you know, people start questioning our judgment. Yeah, exactly. And um, so I decided not to tell any anyone really about it. So that was quite tough though at times. Um I I the way I dealt with it was really, you know, to to uh keep myself busy. Yeah. As much as possible.

SPEAKER_00 45:35

That's all you can do.

SPEAKER_02 45:36

Yeah, yeah. But I did make a decision that was quite hard in one way, and that was that I was not going to do any scuba diving. Um, because that was adding another pressure, because the diving conditions quite often in this part of the of the Ridge Sea are very challenging. There's lots of currents, there's lots of swell, you know, there's uh tidal waves coming in and out, you know. So it's a very dynamic underwater environment. And I was thinking to myself, you know, I cannot make any mistakes. Um, and uh not feeling 100% kind of mentally prepared for that, I made a decision that, you know what, I'm I'm not gonna do any scoop and item on this trip. So um luckily Lucas uh he made uh great pictures and and and captured a lot of the of the work that they were doing uh underneath the surface, you know, in a really nice way. So that was great.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

But what I love love about this story is that there is a really bright and positive upside that came out of the end of it, right?

SPEAKER_02 46:40

Yeah.

The Photo That Reached Piccadilly

SPEAKER_01 46:42

You going in this as not the like not a you know seasoned photographer or whatever, this this upside is great.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

Yeah, so on one early morning, uh we were sent out with a with a scientist. Uh Lucas was um going in one direction, and I was going in a different direction. And I was in one of those small wooden boats, and I had a group of scientists in in another boat, just slightly ahead of us. And it was this beautiful golden morning uh light. But the seas were pretty feisty, it was pretty choppy waters, you know. We had waves splashing over us, you know, on a constant kind of basis. And um when I saw that other boat with the people on it, you know, all kind of in you know, wrapped up, you know, some of them were wearing even goggles, you know, because they didn't want to get the sea spray in their in their faces, in their eyes. And and we were just kind of fighting the elements a little bit, you know. Here we have this group of scientists and are on a mission, you know, nothing can stop them. I was like, I have to capture this. So I was still shooting away uh with my camera, and uh, I was like, I love this. And then I come back in the evening, and when I show these pictures to Lucas, he's like, Oh my god, these are amazing! I was like, What do you think? He was like, Yeah, they're really, really good. It's like okay, yeah, I think they're really good, you know. And a few months later, um he actually, without me knowing, he sends one of those pictures uh to uh uh image competition. And I was like, uh-huh, I didn't know when I got to know that actually I become one of the finalists of the ocean photographer of the Euroboard with that picture.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

So I was like, okay, so I guess this picture was pretty good then because when we go to London, we are invited there, you know, by the oceanographic um magazine who is kind of hosting this uh photography competition. We go to Piccadilly Circus, and all the the finalist pictures are being displayed on the big keeper screen of Piccadilly Circus. I was like, I had to pinch my arm, like is this really happening, you know. And my picture was not the winning picture, but I know that they had like 15,000 pictures that's being sent to you know to that competition.

unknown 49:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 49:23

And that mine was selected. I was, you know, beyond my dream. It was yeah, that was really, really cool, actually. And I had no idea that Lukas had sent it.

SPEAKER_01 49:34

What I love about that story is that going from the beginning, Lucas sort of like turned you from uh you're into a professional photographer, and then by the end of it, he turned you to an award-nominated photographer. Like sort of like escalated twice. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and another fun thing actually, Chris, that maybe I haven't told you about was also that uh the um the uh TRC, the organization that was our client and that sent us on these Djibouti missions, they actually also hosted a uh outdoor photography exhibition in Geneva, uh where like 80% of the images they were my images. Um and this was on the kind of beach promenade just in front of the United Nations building in Geneva, next, you know, next to the Geneva Lake. And and we were there for the for the opening ceremony and everything, and that was actually pretty cool to I must say, I must admit, it was pretty cool to see my pictures in that environment.

Outdoor Skills And Risk Thinking

SPEAKER_01 50:36

That is really cool. And and you've worked a lot with you know, obviously in your previous career in in outdoor guiding and and tourism stuff like you've worked a lot with people. Is there something in that philosophy that you have with risk and and you know simplicity being in the outdoors, things like that, that you think sort of like maybe people listening that they might need to take on as a lesson, or that might be some sort of um you know advice life advice that you might impart or wisdom that you've learned? Yeah, because we all live these busy lives. You know, we live busy lives, a lot of work stress, we get uh absorbed in the news or social media, whatever it is, like or maybe it's just our approach to career. We're always trying or being pushed by society to succeed and you know progress through the career ladder, and all these sorts of things are put upon us, but sometimes there might be lessons of of actually sometimes to succeed within yourself.

SPEAKER_02 51:33

I mean, we all come from different backgrounds and we all have different skill sets, right? You know, no matter what kind of work or jobs you know you've had over the years, and and for me, I think being able at a pretty early stage to spend a lot of time in the outdoors and you know, test my waters in different kinds of activities, you know, and I that has actually given me a lot of life lessons in a way, you know, that A You know, try to be open-minded and curious about trying new things, you know, and don't you know punish yourself because you're not becoming the world championship, uh, the world champion, you know, like just after having tried something new for you know a couple of times, you know, but you know, keep trying and keep doing it over and over again, you know. But I think also the more versatile you can you can you can shoot, so to speak, in terms of the things that you like to try out and you know, the new things that you want to learn, the more lessons you get back home with you. And I think a lot of the times, a lot of the skills that we might learn from the outdoors as an example, we can definitely, you know, adapt to different environments, you know. Um, and when it comes to like having, you know, doing like dynamic risk assessments as an example, you know, that we do a lot in sea kayaking, you know, world in particular when you go to more challenging waters, like if you would go kayaking in North Wales as an as an example that we that I've done a lot in my days, you know, where there's lots of tidal movements, you know, big waves, and you know, you you you need to to know a lot about what can actually happen very quickly in in your surroundings. I think all of those kind of skills that I've learned being in the outer doors a lot, I had definitely uh applied in my professional life as a photographer or a producer or you know in the fire department. So I think the more you dare to try different things, the more skills you will get that you can also use in situations that maybe you don't know now that you will get to use in five years' time, you know.

Practical Advice For New Producers

SPEAKER_01 53:52

I think that's lovely. I think that's fantastic. It's it's a really good lesson. I think I've got one last question for you. Maybe choosing one of your careers, probably the producing side of it, because it's probably the biggest sort of aspect of it. But if there was a piece of practical advice that you might want to give anyone listening that might want to follow in your footsteps to becoming a producer, uh it what would you advise them?

SPEAKER_02 54:13

So if I would advise anyone uh that might be interested in kind of the producing side of things, um of course, first of all, try to figure out what kind of uh genre would you like to really get into? Um what kind of like would it be like particular TV series, you know, reality TV, or would it be something that is connected to your hobbies as an example, you know? Could it be the outdoors? You know, do you do you have an extreme interest in you know racing cars or whatever it might be, you know, and then and then eventually start looking at okay, what kind of production companies you know working with these kinds of uh of productions and uh maybe try to get into different Facebook groups. I found Facebook groups actually being really, really uh good interesting because there's always producers and photographers and filmmakers and production companies that are looking for more producers or producers with different kinds of skill sets or you know, or or someone that lives in a particular country, in a particular region, as an example, that uh potentially you know could be very useful to know about. Um, and then I think also if you by default are very organized, if you know how to juggle, you know, lots of um, you know, balls in the air at the same time. But also one thing that I find really uh important is that you also need to be flexible in terms of you know working hours. If you think that becoming a producer would be at work between eight and five, no, no, no, no, that's not the job for you know, because it can be 24-7 at times. Um but the the outcome, hopefully, will be you know that you get to meet amazing people and you go to exciting places and you learn so many new things about yourself and you get to develop your skills. And uh yeah, who knows? You know, one day, you know, your work as a producer will be over and you will become a photographer instead, you know, by chance, you know. Who knows, you know, or a cinema or a firefighter. You never know what it's gonna lead to, you know.

Where To Find Ulrika And Closing

SPEAKER_01 56:22

I love that. Fantastic. Urika, so lovely having a conversation with you. And and as a very final thing, uh, I always like the opportunity to give guests the opportunity to plug anything, you know, websites or books you got out or social media stuff. Where where can people find out more about you?

SPEAKER_02 56:38

Oh, speaking about books, actually, Chris, I forgot to tell you also that I also started working on a hiking uh guidebook. Uh actually uh where I will be both the photographer and the writer.

SPEAKER_00 56:52

And the writer.

SPEAKER_02 56:53

Uh and it's gonna be uh a guidebook about the um hiking that is actually in uh our uh home area. Uh so that's something I'm working on as well. Hopefully next year.

SPEAKER_01 57:05

Amazing. So we'll look out for that and we'll definitely post it. Yeah, but yeah, uh website.

SPEAKER_02 57:10

Yes, so some of the work that we've done over the years uh within photography and filmmaking can be found on our website actually, and it's lwimages.com.

SPEAKER_01 57:21

Awesome, awesome. And I'll post that in the show notes and also I'll post your socials as well so people can come and say hello on Instagram or wherever they want to find you guys.

SPEAKER_02 57:30

Okay, my Instagram, Just Fire, is really, really bad. It's basically more kind of personal, you know, lots of uh pictures of my dog. But we we also have an Instagram on the LWHs, but yeah, sure, that's fine, no problem.

SPEAKER_01 57:44

Oh, you do? Okay. Well, we can go there. I'll post all that as well. So fantastic. Ulrika, listen, thank you so much for taking the time. Uh fascinating conversation, as always. And uh we'll speak to you again soon.

SPEAKER_02 57:56

Okay, sounds good. Thank you, Chris.

SPEAKER_01 58:01

And that's to wrap on today's episode. A big thanks again to Aureka for coming on the show and sharing those stories with us. And of course, a big thanks to you all as well for listening and support the show. You can find out more information about Aureca and her husband Lucas' work at lwimages.com, as well as more links to the show notes. And for audio listeners, these episodes are also available on YouTube, complete with clips and videos from the stories. You can also connect with the show on social media. We are No Ordinary Monday Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And for anything else, check out the website, NoOrdinarymonday.com. Next week on the show, I am joined by roller coaster designer Corey Keypert. Corey designed some of the world's most thrilling wooden roller coasters. Rides that feel chaotic, unpredictable, and have that magic formula that makes you want to ride them again and again. But one of the stories that he shared is about trying to build a roller coaster in a space where it shouldn't have really been possible. And how a few lessons of improv comedy ended up shaping away that he approached the design. It is an amazing story, and I can't wait for you guys to hear it. If you enjoyed today's episode, there are four simple ways that you can support the show. Number one, follow or subscribe on your podcast app. Number two, leave us a quick rating or a top review. Number three, share the episode with a friend, a colleague, or maybe a family member. And then number four, support the show at buymeacoffee.com slash no ordinary monday. Any one of these things helps us keep the podcast independent, we can avoid adverts, and allows me to keep bringing you great guests and stories week after week. And that's it for this episode. This podcast is independently produced, hosted, and edited by me, Chris Byron. Thank you so much for listening. Take care.