Love's warmth can be found in the coldest of places — and among the wildest of creatures.

A photo exhibition titled "White Gift," which features polar bears sharing intimate communication, will he held in Tokyo from July 25 to August 8. The pictures depict polar bears as being full of life and love, hugging and displaying affection.

Photographer Lisa Vogt, who went to the Arctic four times between 2003 and 2006, has taken 15,000 pictures of polar bears and scenes of the Arctic. From her collection, she selected some 40 images for the exhibition.

The pictures show cuddly and warm expressions of the polar bears, such as the happy look of a cub kissing its mother.

"To me, the polar bear is love, beauty, delight and splendor," Vogt said. "And I would be very happy if people who look at my polar bear photos get a warm feeling, a positive, a loving, a good emotion like this beauty must be preserved."

The title of the exhibition, "White Gift," reflects the beautiful world that the wild animals live in, she explained.

"A polar bear's world is white. There is no color, there is no sound, there is very little activity, movement or excitement," the photographer explained.

"It's really a white, pure world."

One of her pictures of polar bears was selected as a winning entry in the BBC News Photographer of the Year competition in 2004.

Vogt has published two photo books on polar bears and one on penguins and polar bears. Originally from the U.S. state of Washington, Vogt has an American father and a Japanese mother. Based on Tokyo, she has been active in many fields, working as a lecturer at Aoyama Gakuin and Meiji universities and becoming a radio personality as well as a scriptwriter for NHK's English program, and also being creative director of a company named MC Planning, Inc.

The Tokyo photo exhibition will be held at Gallery A4 in Koto Ward, a three-minute walk from Toyocho Station on the Tozai subway line.

The gallery opens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from July 25 to Aug. 7 and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. It closes on Sundays and national holidays. On Aug. 3, Vogt will give a presentation in Japanese about polar bears at the gallery from 1-1:30 p.m.

Admission to the exhibition and the presentation are free. For more information, visit www.a-quad.jp/main.html or call (03) 6660-6011.