Klaus Thymann started working on the world's first glacier atlas as he was fascinated by "unchartered territories," but also by the "challenge of doing something that has not been done before."

"In my book Hybrids, I documented new hybrid cultures all over the globe," he tells BJP. "This project also has a global perspective so in that respect they are similar. I also wanted to create a positive insentient to do something about climate change, a lot of communication is negative, I hope to inspire with this project."

The more research he did, the bigger the project got "as we want the [resulting] material to be used widely." As a result, "the data aspects of the project are set up together with scientific bodies and the areas we will cover are also chosen in conjunction with scientists."

But, when it came to funding his expeditions in Africa, the photographer had trouble finding backers. "It's been particularly difficult," he tells BJP. "Project Pressure, the non-for-profit organisation I helped set-up, has photography at its core, so that's why we chose to work with Emphas.is," the crowdfunding platform for photojournalists.

"This photo-expedition will be a visual time capsule," he says. "All of the resources, images and data created by Project Pressure will be open source and free to use by others."

Thymann and his team need $16,468 to be able to complete their work.

For more, visit the Emphas.is website.

Vanishing glacier in Africa by Klaus Thymann from Emphas.is on Vimeo.