Sky above , sea below
David Doubilet has published a major new book of photographs that bring together the underwater and topside worlds . In interview with SCUBA editor Simon Rogerson , he speaks of his ongoing mission to tell the ocean ’ s stories
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DOUBILET
Even though it takes place in the shallows , the half-and-half photograph is possibly the most technically demanding of underwater images . In the first instance , there should be something of interest in both ‘ halves ’ of the image , but more difficult still is the need to balance two completely different types of light . The challenge is to bring together two different worlds in a single image .
David Doubilet has been seeking out these pictures for a long time , since the development of dome optics at National Geographic in 1969 made such photographs possible . Though most of his work over the decades has consisted of pure underwater images , he has always returned to the halfand half as a way of uniting the elements of his stories . Now he has brought together a collection of favourites in a coffee table book , Two Worlds : Above and Below the Sea , published by Phaidon .
“ As a journalist and story-teller , what ’ s interesting about a half-and-half is its ability to encapsulate what an area means to you ,” he says as we kick off a wide-ranging interview via Zoom , set up by Jennifer Hayes , David ’ s wife and photographic partner . The book is in part a memoir of Doubilet ’ s own story ; while the images he and Jennifer selected only go back to 1986 , the book is steeped in memory , of childhood days swimming around the jetties of New Jersey .
Is there still a sense of that child-like wonder working behind the lens ? “ Yes , of course there ’ s still a child in me , trying not so desperately to get out , but desperately trying to stay in ! These pictures can give you a sense of time and place , a building block of memories . That child-like ability to keep
50 wondering about things and trying to figure out ... is this going to be a picture ? Is this going to be the picture I dream about ?”
Eyes under the ocean
While lockdown curtailed David and Jennifer ’ s travel schedule , it gave them time to take stock . They were still able to dive from their dock on the St Lawrence River , in New York State ; David indulged his passion for driving his Morgan sports car on quiet roads . Then came the monumental task of locating , selecting and preparing images for Two Worlds .
Was it a daunting prospect , to look over 71 Nat Geo assignments and countless other trips in search of the pictures he needed ? “ Well , a book is a testament to a long and carefully plotted period of work ,” he says .
Grounded Iceberg , Blanley Bay , Devon Island , Nunavut , Canada , 2018
Blacktip reef sharks , South Pass , Fakarava , French Polynesia , 2018