Patagonia boasts some of the world's most striking landscapes: snow-dusted mountains sit alongside icy lakes, vast glaciers and subpolar forestland. In a new photography exhibition, cruise company Australis celebrates this extreme environment. Here, we showcase some of the most incredible images from the display.

Patagonia can be an unforgiving place and the native sea lions know there's safety in numbers. Entire colonies huddle together in this way to keep warm and guard themselves against predators. Sometimes they float in the water in large groups known as "rafts".

The mighty Pía glacier, found along the famed Beagle Channel, is one of the largest in Patagonia’s Darwin range. It’s rumoured that the lumbering glacier was named after Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, a Portuguese queen consort.

Imperial cormorants, ubiquitous in Patagonia, are characterised by their piercing blue eyes, tufting hair and the splash of orange on their bills. They are monogamous birds that exist in relatively small colonies.

Patagonia's often inhospitable environment means ships braving the region need extra care and attention. Here, a mechanic tends to the boat during an epic trip around Tierra del Fuego.

Ice and water, nature's two extremes, sit side by side in Patagonia, as glaciers rise from glossy lakes. There are more than 350 glaciers in Patagonia, and they hold large preserves of the world's fresh water.

The weather in Patagonia is mercilessly changeable: glistening sunshine can give way to battering rain in the space of a single day. If you see the storm clouds rolling in, take shelter if you can.

Ice is the lifeblood of Patagonia – it collects on lakes, coats mountainsides and forms glaciers. Here a hardy boat journeys through the icy water – its size pales in comparison to the towering, snow-topped mountains and the lake's great expanse.

The beautiful landscapes here demand an experienced sailor. This seaman smiles with joy as he takes to the waters of Chilean Tierra del Fuego.

The Pía glacier is an awesome sight, and those who dare to get up close can appreciate fully its colossal size. Here, two bold travellers, dwarfed by the glacier, take in its intricate ice patterns from a tiny raft.

The colours of Patagonia always amaze foreign visitors: moss greens and ochres contrast with ice-blue glaciers and cornflower skies. A mountain can be seen on almost every horizon.

A glacier's great expanse is even more incredible when viewed up close. This one, fringed by lush forestland, has giant, undulating ridges formed over many decades. The blue tone of the glacier is caused by sunlight – as the light hits the ice it splits into three waves of colour: green, red and blue. The red and green waves are absorbed, but the ice-blue remains, giving the glacier its hue.

Cape Horn is the southernmost tip of the Americas: a dramatic expanse of bluffs, windswept ocean and diverse, hardy wildlife. It was stumbled upon by Dutch sailors in 1616, and the name comes from Hoorn, a pretty town in the Netherlands. The waterways here are notoriously difficult to navigate.

A ship's command centre is called "the bridge". Here, two experienced sailors navigate Patagonia's icy waters from the bridge, as dusk falls around them.

Patagonia is home to abundant bird life – more than 460 species call the area home. While most birders are hoping to spot some penguins, Magellanic gulls, with their distinct red beaks and black crowns, are also worthy of attention.

The changeable weather means it’s not uncommon to see a rainbow arching over a Patagonian landscape. Here an Australis boat sails beneath a moody sky, flanked by mountains and wind-battered trees.

Peaks loom over the Argentinian city of Ushuaia, the bustling capital of Tierra del Fuego. It’s the world’s southernmost city, close to the Chilean border, and it acts as a jumping-off point for adventurers keen to embrace Patagonia’s great outdoors.

The robust Australis fleet is built to withstand challenging conditions, as it tours the "end of the world". Here, a ship is silhouetted by the sunset as it voyages across some calmer waters.

Many penguin colonies, some made up of hundreds of thousands of birds, exist across Patagonia. The Magellanic species is the most prolific here. They're social, monogamous animals, returning to the same mating partner every year, and heading out to hunt fish in large "rafts".