New Zealand's five subantarctic island groups appear to the unknowing eye to be desolate outposts in the Southern Ocean, yet this is far from the truth. The water around the islands boils and froths with feeding seabirds, lush mega-herbs fill the forest floor under the scarlet canopy of southern rātā. Albatross glide effortlessly over the cresting waves, their movement so ethereal that witnessing them is an almost spiritual experience, as Robert Murphy alluded to in 1912 in a letter to his wife from the whaling brig Daisy. The subantarctic islands are a spectacular treasure, wilderness on its own terms, an inheritance that deserves to be preserved for the benefit of all. These photographs are an imperfect attempt to share the magic of the islands - from the wild charm of the Snares to the animated attraction of the Auckland Islands, from the ceaseless beauty of Campbell Island to the rugged coasts of the Antipodes and Bounty.