NEW BOOK REVEALS POWER OF CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHY
WRITTEN BY Greg Stone
November 14, 2011
Originally posted on conservation.org
The power of images is all around us. Whether viewed on billboards, the Internet or TV, in magazines, movies or books, most popular culture and communication are based on the visual; indeed, it is hard to advance any idea without a powerful image behind it.
Jacques Cousteau once said, “We only protect what we love, we only love what we understand, and we only understand what we are taught.” While I agree with this famous ocean explorer, I would add that we only understand what we see and, for the majority of people, seeing is believing. That is why photography is essential.
Brian Skerry — one of my dearest friends and colleagues, and one of the world’s most talented ocean journalists — has just published an anthology of his life’s work to date. His book, “Ocean Soul,” is a collection of some of his most striking photographs, and demonstrates just how powerful images can be.
National Geographic and Conservation International (CI) are working together to promote this incredible body of work, and we are extremely fortunate to have such a friend in Brian. Over the years he has donated countless images to CI which have helped to enhance our conservation awareness efforts.
Brian is truly dedicated to his work and spends months preparing for an assignment, studying every aspect of the story’s background. Only then will he look to the tools of his trade, what he needs to create images that convey the story: dozens of cameras, silver and black underwater housings, underwater lights with names like Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide, filters, wet suits, dry suits, submarines, Remotely Operated Vehicles, ultralights, balloons, emergency locating devices, and gear of all kinds.
Believe me, it is hard enough to tell a good story, and even harder to get a picture of it. To do it all underwater with a journalist’s precision and accuracy is truly amazing. Brian has a rare ability to make pictures that interpret subjects in new ways — pictures that show far more than simply where and what was happening, and encompass the true nature of the moment: the ethereal, almost spiritual, aspect of his subject.
The ocean needs us now more than ever, and Brian Skerry helps us understand that fact through his work which can be seen in the pages of “Ocean Soul.” Please join me in congratulating Brian on this incredible achievement; we can’t wait for his next book!
Greg Stone is CI’s chief scientist for oceans.