TRIBUTE TO THE LEGENDARY ERNEST H . BROOKS II
settings were fixed : 15cm focus , f / 8 and a shutter speed of 1 / 100th second . It was easy and a joy viewing the sunlight from below the waves , looking up .
You aren ’ t just a photography pioneer , but also a diving pioneer . What was it like exploring the Channel Islands for the first time ? As a young diver I would pretend to be [ Austrian diving pioneer ] Hans Hass , exploring the waters around the eight Channel Islands . From the beauty of the massive kelp forests – “ redwoods of the sea ” – to the marine mammals of San Miguel and Santa Barbara Island , I had his desire to tell the world of the beauty of my own backyard .
You certainly have a connection to your subjects . How did you establish this ? As a photographer , there must always be a time when you observe the behaviour of your subject , whether it is a sea lion or just light rays interacting with the water . And then there is a moment when it all connects . For me , the technical part is automatic . Pushing the shutter down , the moment of the capture is the
essence – creating that one exposure that says , “ I ’ m yours , Ernest H . Brooks .”
Your underwater photography crosses the line between a natural history photograph and art . What mindset does this take ? You must illustrate the beauty of light and the presence of design , the form the viewer realises is a quality joined together to begin a “ statement ”. These visual “ words ” are the language of all the people on our planet , and a language that all photographers need to learn as their careers take form .
You clearly have an appreciation for art , like music , for example . What similarities does music have to underwater photography ? Music is the driving force , the rhythm and the heartbeat that solidifies the image and composes the visual ballad . All of my published works strive to begin with a musical note . Today , many film festivals blend images with the music chosen by the photographer . Many of my programmes today are enhanced by the music of another artist , Ernest Cortazone . A single piano serves like the 21 steps of the greyscale that creates the tonal range of the black and white image .
Top left : 1997 Santa Cruz Island , California , Jean-Michel Cousteau in action
Top right : 1953 Guaymas , Mexico , Ernest adjusts his mother ’ s dive gear
Above left : 1967 Housing for Ernest ’ s Hasselblad , the first 70mm Hasselblad in Plexiglas
Above right : 1962 Santa Cruz Island , California , A commercial diver with a dysprosium iodide lamp lighting a turbine propellant meter in the early days of research on lighting systems ( to record the full spectrum of infrared to ultraviolet )
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