For most, visiting the world's most isolated and perilous locations is a distant fantasy. For one young British filmmaker, however, it's simply the day job. Stan Gaskell, a 24-year-old extreme cameraman from North Yorkshire, has turned documenting high-stakes expeditions into a career, visiting 39 countries while working 20-hour days and living out of a van named Nelly.
From Yorkshire to the World's Most Dangerous Waters
Gaskell began freelancing as a camera operator at just 16 years old. His major breakthrough came in March 2023 when he joined Project Africa, a monumental undertaking that would define his early career. Over 352 days, he travelled the entire length of Africa, filming endurance athlete Russell Cook – known as 'the Hardest Geezer' – in his successful bid to become the first person to run the 10,000-mile continent.
This journey was far from a holiday. Gaskell endured a terrifying 'near-death' experience while crossing the Gulf of Guinea, widely considered the world's most pirated waters. The plan to avoid a conflict zone in Nigeria by sea backfired spectacularly. "I was sailing on an oversized plank of wood across the world's most pirated waters with our van strapped to the top, in a thunderstorm," Gaskell recalled.
The team faced a two-day argument with a local fixer who insisted on using a crane to load their 4.5-tonne van onto a decrepit wooden cargo boat. The van nearly slipped into the sea during the fraught loading process. Once at sea, a violent storm rocked the boat 45 degrees each way. "It was one of the few times that I thought to myself, 'We might not make it out of here,'" Gaskell said, describing the moment the boat's main supporting beam cracked.
Breakdowns and Hospitality in the Sahara
Land offered no respite from danger. In the roadless Mauritanian Sahara, Gaskell's van broke down, leaving him and a colleague stranded hundreds of kilometres from the nearest road with no satellite phone. After a sandstorm halted progress, the vehicle's engine failed completely the next day.
By sheer luck, they limped 12km to a military base near the Western Sahara border, where guards initially pointed weapons at them. Through broken Arabic and French, they explained their plight and found a mechanic at a remote outpost. However, the breakdown had inadvertently saved them. "If we'd broken down literally two hours later, I might not be telling this story," Gaskell noted, explaining they would have entered Western Sahara where Morocco was actively bombing civilian vehicles.
Salvation came from unexpected heroes: Algerian truckers who towed the van 250km and shared their food, stories, and shelter. This act of profound kindness left a lasting impression, leading Gaskell to name Algeria as a favourite among the many countries he has visited. "We received incredible hospitality everywhere we went, but Algeria was really special," he said.
Capturing Stories from Everest to the English Channel
Following Project Africa, which concluded in April 2024, Gaskell took on another formidable challenge as creative producer for Project Limitless. From September 2024 to May 2025, he documented British adventurer Mitchell Hutchcraft's record-breaking mission to complete the longest climb of Mount Everest in history, spanning 19 countries and 13,000km.
His career, which also includes filming a rare Hindu festival in Prayagraj that occurs only every 144 years and being locked down in an Iraqi military curfew, is built on a simple philosophy. When asked for advice on travel videography, Gaskell emphasises story over gear. "The heart of it is always the story and you can capture that with a phone camera or GoPro," he advises. "It isn't about visuals, it's purely about the story and the people."
Reflecting on the constant brushes with peril, Gaskell admits he developed a mindset of expecting things to go wrong. "You just have to adopt a mindset of expecting things to go wrong," he stated. "It’s part of the day job." For this intrepid Yorkshire filmmaker, the world's remotest corners remain his office, one extreme story at a time.
