as a kid I used to dream about the
oceans it was this wild place full of
color and life home to these alien
looking fantastical creatures I pictured
massive sharks ruling the food chain and
graceful sea turtles dancing across
coral reefs as a marine biologist earned
photographer I’ve spent most of my
career looking for places as magical as
those I used to dream about when I was
little and it is this journey that I was
to share with you all this evening so
one of the most common questions I
receive from people is what is the most
terrifying moment of your career now
being in my shoes at this moment must be
really really really scary and you know
I’ll be honest I am scared I’m scared of
overexposing
I’m scared of underexposing I’m scared
of getting the Sharks out of focus and
I’m scared that my editors are not gonna
like a single picture that I’m taking
the Sharks they are probably the least
of my concern right now and you know I
remember these are pretty small shorts
6-foot at the most
so if sharks are not the scare is part
of my job or what is there’s one
creature that if it canta gates and
large enough numbers it scares the crap
out of me and this is what these
creatures look like the scariest moments
of my photographic career are without a
camera on a stage looking over an ocean
of people you know give me a white shark
or a sharknado any day of the week but
I’m getting ahead of myself here way
ahead of myself like with any good story
I think we have to begin right at the
beginning
now I began exploring bodies of water at
a fairly young age
hey they were a lot smaller than the
ones I explore now but at that stage I
thought you know they were probably as
exciting as the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific Ocean are for me today that’s
fast forward today my photography is
largely anchored in conservation and you
know with conservation of photography
you have two approaches I call it the
carrot and the stick approach on the one
hand you can focus them the most amazing
places on this planet and make them go
wow I could not believe a place like
Saint Joseph at all could exist and
hopefully they make a connection with it
so for half the year I have this
incredible privilege to document some of
the most amazing living realms on our
planet however as a photojournalist I
need to document the reality of our
relationship with the ocean so for the
other half of the year I documented I
sort of call the darker side of our
relationship with the sea whether it’s
overfishing the impacts of climate
change are all spills but I always feel
like I walk a very fine line between
inspiring and disturbing when young
photographers always ask me what is sort
of number one tip you can give me now we
say begin in your backyard begin with a
subject and a place that you are
intimately familiar with in a place that
you can go back to again and again and
again in South Africa I had a pretty
sexy backyard I mean I was lucky and my
first sort of real reportage story was
about great white sharks you know twelve
years ago and when I shot this this was
the sort of standard white shark image
you know focus on the teeth aggressive
dangerous wild and these sort of
pictures are easy to take however the
more time I spent out at sea with him
the less I felt that that picture was
accurate instead of the aggressive you
know you know dangerous right shark I
was I was seeing an inquisitive and very
often curious creature the image that
follows is the one picture that I think
best represents the white shark to me
and this was taken on all those
wonderful winter days the water was
clear the sea was calm and you know this
white shark came across this little box
jellyfish and I thought it would either
swim through it or just ignored and for
a few seconds this white took actually
almost hovered
as if it was transfixed by the light on
the tentacle and just kind of you know
hovered there and just looked as if
going hello what are you and you know
after she had satisfied her curiosity
that’s 3-nothing her female by the way
she just kind of you know turned back
and went back into the depths and and
and that is sort of how I know great
whites not with the images before my
next reportage was also in southern
Africa again but the focus here is on
sardines
now sardines are a Coldwater fish and
they prefer the west and south coast
where the water is colder however once a
year something unusual happens we have
this warm current on the East Coast
called the Agulhas current and in once a
year it kind of moves offshore and these
sardines migrate with this cold water
northwards and we call this the sardine
run and you know sardines heavily over
fished over the years and this is a
species that really needs the
conservation attention but everyone
thinks that lives in ten cats it’s not
just the fishing fleets that follow
these sardines there’s a whole suite of
predators that follows them as well
common dolphins they carve smaller
pieces of sardines off the massive
shoals and they pin and herd them up to
the surface and you know they’re they
form the holy grail for all
photographers the bait ball I’ve done
the run for eight years I’ve seen three
so the Dolphins heard the sardines and
they take turns you know one after the
other will rush in grab a sardine and
swim out and take turns like that
amazing cooperative behavior there but
for me sardine your honor it’s all about
sharks now when there’s no dolphins
these sharks have a really hard time
they get sardine donuts as we call them
mouths full of water most of the time
when the dolphins are there the sardines
tend to be herded together much much
more closely working with sharks on the
run is a little bit spicy at times
especially at the end when there’s very
few sardines left they treat you like
another shark so you get bumped and hit
probably every ten seconds you know if
you want to get good pictures you just
have to ignore the Sharks knocking into
you most of the time I know I’m not on
the menu
these sharks feed on small sardines but
I had two encounters one and a large
dusky shark rip off my fin and swim away
with it
what’s that all about why does that
chart beat another thin eye I have no
idea and then another one I had two
bronze Whaler sharks each hanging onto
my underwater strobes and I thought like
a Ukrainian weightlifter and I was
trying to punt it they obviously like
when the strobe recycles there seems to
be electric current a kind of you know
gets pushed out so they they love biting
on those things this is my favorite
sardine one photograph for two reasons
one it was in clear water and you know
it looks like the shark is inhaling the
sardines and right after this he
basically swings around and comes at me
and you can see these little sardine
heads and tails sticking out it’s like
an overstuffed suitcase with the clothes
hanging out that’s what that reminded me
of there’s just one of those you know
interesting visual scenes there but yeah
you know that’s one of those images you
know once every eight years if you’re
lucky at the end of the you know bait
ball when there’s a few sardines left
where do they want to go in between your
legs under your arms around your head
the sardines are seeking shelter around
you which is a really really bad place
to be not just cause of the Sharks
there’s actually a bigger danger on the
run I’m photographing and I’m looking at
my screen at something and as I look up
all the predators are gone you know it’s
just me and the sardines and we’re
looking to other going what just
happened you know there are two stunts
actually swim away because they don’t
know what’s going on that just doesn’t
happen
instinct kicks in and I go I’m going
where they’ve gone I’m back paddling I’m
swimming out of the bait ball and this
guy comes rocketing out of nowhere as a
bride’s whale and he comes up and he
pretty much in front of me he swallows
the entire bait bowl Oh done I probably
a foot or two away and as he does that
he he arches upwards and then he pitch
mush just leaves the water I mean you
know they have all this energy and he
leaps out of the water to threats come
up and I am more or less right at the
left where the sardine is leaping out
and I’m going oh crap so I curl into
this little ball and I’m waiting for the
sound of hearing my own bones break but
I’ve been trained well I’m still
shooting
and the next picture I have no
recollection I have no memory but I have
this so this is all the water streaming
out of the bride’s whale’s mouth and I
don’t remember this somebody else could
have taken this it was in my camera at
the end of the day it’s very hard to see
you know instill so this is sort of a
some video of a colleague of mine to me
if you get the idea of the whole how
quick and how crazy a bait ball actually
is I’m out I’m trying to get still
pictures in that and you have to be
where those sharks are you have to be
one of those sharks to get the pictures
so it gets a bit bit crazy at times but
and this is where the birds are just
using their wings and a couple of sharks
and here comes the bride’s whale
so now you get an idea sort of what your
environment is like and you sort of just
have to have to just you know you know
forget about all that stuff and just
focus on the task at hand which is
getting great images
you
oceans it was this wild place full of
color and life home to these alien
looking fantastical creatures I pictured
massive sharks ruling the food chain and
graceful sea turtles dancing across
coral reefs as a marine biologist earned
photographer I’ve spent most of my
career looking for places as magical as
those I used to dream about when I was
little and it is this journey that I was
to share with you all this evening so
one of the most common questions I
receive from people is what is the most
terrifying moment of your career now
being in my shoes at this moment must be
really really really scary and you know
I’ll be honest I am scared I’m scared of
overexposing
I’m scared of underexposing I’m scared
of getting the Sharks out of focus and
I’m scared that my editors are not gonna
like a single picture that I’m taking
the Sharks they are probably the least
of my concern right now and you know I
remember these are pretty small shorts
6-foot at the most
so if sharks are not the scare is part
of my job or what is there’s one
creature that if it canta gates and
large enough numbers it scares the crap
out of me and this is what these
creatures look like the scariest moments
of my photographic career are without a
camera on a stage looking over an ocean
of people you know give me a white shark
or a sharknado any day of the week but
I’m getting ahead of myself here way
ahead of myself like with any good story
I think we have to begin right at the
beginning
now I began exploring bodies of water at
a fairly young age
hey they were a lot smaller than the
ones I explore now but at that stage I
thought you know they were probably as
exciting as the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific Ocean are for me today that’s
fast forward today my photography is
largely anchored in conservation and you
know with conservation of photography
you have two approaches I call it the
carrot and the stick approach on the one
hand you can focus them the most amazing
places on this planet and make them go
wow I could not believe a place like
Saint Joseph at all could exist and
hopefully they make a connection with it
so for half the year I have this
incredible privilege to document some of
the most amazing living realms on our
planet however as a photojournalist I
need to document the reality of our
relationship with the ocean so for the
other half of the year I documented I
sort of call the darker side of our
relationship with the sea whether it’s
overfishing the impacts of climate
change are all spills but I always feel
like I walk a very fine line between
inspiring and disturbing when young
photographers always ask me what is sort
of number one tip you can give me now we
say begin in your backyard begin with a
subject and a place that you are
intimately familiar with in a place that
you can go back to again and again and
again in South Africa I had a pretty
sexy backyard I mean I was lucky and my
first sort of real reportage story was
about great white sharks you know twelve
years ago and when I shot this this was
the sort of standard white shark image
you know focus on the teeth aggressive
dangerous wild and these sort of
pictures are easy to take however the
more time I spent out at sea with him
the less I felt that that picture was
accurate instead of the aggressive you
know you know dangerous right shark I
was I was seeing an inquisitive and very
often curious creature the image that
follows is the one picture that I think
best represents the white shark to me
and this was taken on all those
wonderful winter days the water was
clear the sea was calm and you know this
white shark came across this little box
jellyfish and I thought it would either
swim through it or just ignored and for
a few seconds this white took actually
almost hovered
as if it was transfixed by the light on
the tentacle and just kind of you know
hovered there and just looked as if
going hello what are you and you know
after she had satisfied her curiosity
that’s 3-nothing her female by the way
she just kind of you know turned back
and went back into the depths and and
and that is sort of how I know great
whites not with the images before my
next reportage was also in southern
Africa again but the focus here is on
sardines
now sardines are a Coldwater fish and
they prefer the west and south coast
where the water is colder however once a
year something unusual happens we have
this warm current on the East Coast
called the Agulhas current and in once a
year it kind of moves offshore and these
sardines migrate with this cold water
northwards and we call this the sardine
run and you know sardines heavily over
fished over the years and this is a
species that really needs the
conservation attention but everyone
thinks that lives in ten cats it’s not
just the fishing fleets that follow
these sardines there’s a whole suite of
predators that follows them as well
common dolphins they carve smaller
pieces of sardines off the massive
shoals and they pin and herd them up to
the surface and you know they’re they
form the holy grail for all
photographers the bait ball I’ve done
the run for eight years I’ve seen three
so the Dolphins heard the sardines and
they take turns you know one after the
other will rush in grab a sardine and
swim out and take turns like that
amazing cooperative behavior there but
for me sardine your honor it’s all about
sharks now when there’s no dolphins
these sharks have a really hard time
they get sardine donuts as we call them
mouths full of water most of the time
when the dolphins are there the sardines
tend to be herded together much much
more closely working with sharks on the
run is a little bit spicy at times
especially at the end when there’s very
few sardines left they treat you like
another shark so you get bumped and hit
probably every ten seconds you know if
you want to get good pictures you just
have to ignore the Sharks knocking into
you most of the time I know I’m not on
the menu
these sharks feed on small sardines but
I had two encounters one and a large
dusky shark rip off my fin and swim away
with it
what’s that all about why does that
chart beat another thin eye I have no
idea and then another one I had two
bronze Whaler sharks each hanging onto
my underwater strobes and I thought like
a Ukrainian weightlifter and I was
trying to punt it they obviously like
when the strobe recycles there seems to
be electric current a kind of you know
gets pushed out so they they love biting
on those things this is my favorite
sardine one photograph for two reasons
one it was in clear water and you know
it looks like the shark is inhaling the
sardines and right after this he
basically swings around and comes at me
and you can see these little sardine
heads and tails sticking out it’s like
an overstuffed suitcase with the clothes
hanging out that’s what that reminded me
of there’s just one of those you know
interesting visual scenes there but yeah
you know that’s one of those images you
know once every eight years if you’re
lucky at the end of the you know bait
ball when there’s a few sardines left
where do they want to go in between your
legs under your arms around your head
the sardines are seeking shelter around
you which is a really really bad place
to be not just cause of the Sharks
there’s actually a bigger danger on the
run I’m photographing and I’m looking at
my screen at something and as I look up
all the predators are gone you know it’s
just me and the sardines and we’re
looking to other going what just
happened you know there are two stunts
actually swim away because they don’t
know what’s going on that just doesn’t
happen
instinct kicks in and I go I’m going
where they’ve gone I’m back paddling I’m
swimming out of the bait ball and this
guy comes rocketing out of nowhere as a
bride’s whale and he comes up and he
pretty much in front of me he swallows
the entire bait bowl Oh done I probably
a foot or two away and as he does that
he he arches upwards and then he pitch
mush just leaves the water I mean you
know they have all this energy and he
leaps out of the water to threats come
up and I am more or less right at the
left where the sardine is leaping out
and I’m going oh crap so I curl into
this little ball and I’m waiting for the
sound of hearing my own bones break but
I’ve been trained well I’m still
shooting
and the next picture I have no
recollection I have no memory but I have
this so this is all the water streaming
out of the bride’s whale’s mouth and I
don’t remember this somebody else could
have taken this it was in my camera at
the end of the day it’s very hard to see
you know instill so this is sort of a
some video of a colleague of mine to me
if you get the idea of the whole how
quick and how crazy a bait ball actually
is I’m out I’m trying to get still
pictures in that and you have to be
where those sharks are you have to be
one of those sharks to get the pictures
so it gets a bit bit crazy at times but
and this is where the birds are just
using their wings and a couple of sharks
and here comes the bride’s whale
so now you get an idea sort of what your
environment is like and you sort of just
have to have to just you know you know
forget about all that stuff and just
focus on the task at hand which is
getting great images
you
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