What was your first real
02 A walrus on the
breakthrough in marine and
ice off Igloolik, Baffin
wildlife photography?
island, Canada
In 1982 when I had the
03 King penguins,
South Georgia Island,
opportunity to join David
Sub Antarctica
Doubilet on a National
Geographic assignment on
great white sharks in South Australia. Rodney
Fox, the famous great white handler, was setting
bait from the side of a prawn trawler. A shark
appeared, circling the bait hanging inches from
the water. On its third turn, as Rodney carefully
raised the bait the shark suddenly hurled itself
out of the water. David and I were standing
shoulder to shoulder and firing at the same time
– the shark launched, opened its jaws and started
to descend directly in front of our lenses – my
picture made the cover of numerous magazines
and it is still selling today.
When you have an idea for a major expedition,
where do you start with planning for it? How
does it all begin?
It starts by searching for local native experts.
People who actually live in the area. People like
researchers, conservation organisations and
photographers. These are the people I need
to connect with and who will understand very
quickly what I am interested in and what I need.
03
of the mind into images, how it allowed me to
explore and communicate. I was so inspired I
moved into photojournalism; then I became a
war photographer while serving for 10 years with
the special forces in Israel and Rwanda. I also
tried fashion and sports photography. However,
I realised that war was not the way to go and as
you now know, nothing captured my imagination
as much as the creatures of the vast wilderness
and particularly the underwater world.
Big animals are usually
portrayed as dangerous or
frightening; my mission is
to show their beauty, grace
and essence
What is the most challenging part of arranging
your expeditions?
Facing the truth. After all the research I
undertake by phone or Skype and in emails, I
make a scouting trip; either by myself or with one
of my known, trusted guests. I feel absolutely
committed to doing this before offering the
expedition to the public. In 100 percent of cases,
there are always discrepancies between what I
was told and what I see and experience firsthand.
After this process, it is then time to bring the two
visions of the world together into a viable, safe
and enjoyable trip.
When I first met you in 2006 we were still using
Nikonos cameras and film, which had performed
everywhere with you in ice, deserts, lakes, rivers
and at high altitude. What do you use today?
Today my system includes Nikon DSLR cameras,
a Seacam housing, Go Pro and also the DJi
Phantom IV drone.