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The 7th Celebrate the Sea Festival Philippines
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Celebrate the Sea is organised by OceanNEnvironment Australia in association with the World Festival of Underwater Pictures
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Speakers & Jury Panel 2008 Stan Waterman – Film maker; President, Shark’s Research Institute Emory Kristof – explorer, national geographic photographer in residence Leandro Blanco, Multi awards winner -Film maker Howard Shaw, Executive Director, Singapore Environment Council David Doubilet – National Geographic – photographer in residence Dr Carden Wallace*, Principal Scientist, Museum of Tropical Queensland WYLAND* - Artist of the Sea, Founder, Wyland Foundation, Ocean Artists Society Daniel Mercier – Founder, World Underwater Pictures Festival Antibes Michael AW – Director, Ocean Geographic, underwater photographer Frederic Buyle – 5 times world champion free dive/underwater photographer Scott Tuason, underwater photographer, author Mathieu Meur author, underwater photographer Gunther Deichmann: environmentalist, photographer Lynn Funkhouser – underwater photographer Ferdie Marcelo – environmentalist, Seacology Filemon G. Romero, Project Manager, WWF Philippines
Stan Waterman – Film maker; President, Shark’s Research Institute Stan Waterman has received numerous honors and awards for his work in television and in behalf of the sea including five Emmys, two Gold Medals from the U.K. Underwater Film Festival, four Golden Eagles, a lifetime Achievement Award from the Miami Expo and from Boston Sea Rovers, the Cousteau Diver of the Year Award, the Richard Hopper Day Memorial Medal from the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, the Reaching Out Award from the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, and most recently has been named to the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame . The Discovery Channel produced and broadcast a two-hour biographical special about Mr. Waterman, The Man Who Loves Sharks. Stan Waterman has been at the forefront of scuba diving since its inception as a recreational sport both in this country and throughout the world. His attraction to the underwater world began as a schoolboy in 1936 when he first dived with a Japanese Ama diver's mask in Florida. In the 1950's, inspired by Jacques Cousteau's revolutionary invention of the Aqua Lung, Mr. Waterman acquired the first one in Maine and went on to pioneer scuba diving in that state. Between 1954 and 1958 he operated a dive business in the Bahamas with a boat he had built specially for diving. His first 16mm film on diving was produced during those years. For the next fifteen years, Mr. Waterman continued to record his worldwide journeys and exploits on film; most were ultimately purchased as television documentaries. In 1965 he took his entire family - wife and three children - to Tahiti. Their careers as television stars were launched when National Geographic purchased the rights to air his film of that year-long experience. In 1968 he collaborated with Peter Gimbel on the classic shark film, Blue Water, White Death. He was associate producer and underwater cameraman during the seven-month long production. However, he may be best know for his work in commercial film. He was co-director of underwater photography and second unit in the production of The Deep, based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel. In other collaborations with his close friend and neighbor, Mr. Benchley, he was responsible for ten years' worth of productions for ABC's "American Sportsman Show". More recent productions include documentaries for ABC's "Spirit of Adventure" series and the "Expedition Earth" series on ESPN. Mr. Waterman graduated from Dartmouth in 1946, where he studied with Robert Frost and earned a B.A. in English. He has maintained an appreciation of language and literature throughout his life. He is married and is the father of two sons and a daughter, each of whom has acquired a special love of the sea from him. He and his oldest son, Gordy, a successful cameraman in his own right, won the first father and son Emmy for their work together in the "National Geographic Explorer" production, Dancing With Stingrays. Mr. Waterman maintains residences in New Jersey and Maine. Mr. Waterman's first book, Sea Salt, was published in 2005 and is in its second printing. Mr. Waterman continues to dive, film, lecture, and hosts dive tours.
Emory Kristof – explorer, national geographic photographer in residence A pioneer of innovative, high-tech underwater photography using robot cameras and remotely operated vehicles, Emory Kristof has been a National Geographic photographer since beginning as an intern for the magazine in 1963. Kristof created the preliminary designs of the electronic camera system for the Argo vehicle, which found the Titanic. He led photographic surveys of the C.S.S. Alabama off the coast of France in 1992 and the 16th-century wreck San Diego in the Philippines in 1993. In 1995, he led an expedition to recover the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald and produced the first deep-water images with high-definition TV. Kristof's "Testing the Waters of Rongelap," published in National Geographic magazine in April 1998, recorded oceanic life in the nuclear weapons-contaminated waters surrounding the Marshall Islands. In August 1998, Kristof's pictures of the Titanic were presented in the National Geographic article "Tragedy in Three Dimensions." The pictures, recorded in 1991 using high-intensity lighting systems, appeared in unprecedented detail because of advances in 3-D computer video-editing. Born in 1942, Kristof studied journalism at the University of Maryland at College Park and received a bachelor's degree in 1964. A National Geographic staff photographer from 1964 to 1994, he has produced forty-some articles for the magazine. Kristof has earned many awards for both writing and photography, including the NOGI Award for Arts from the Underwater Society of America in 1988 and the Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award for Underwater Exploration in 1986. That same year, Kristof and Robert Ballard received the American Society of Magazine Publishers Innovation in Photography Award for their photographic coverage of the Titanic. In 1998, Kristof was presented with the J. Winton Lemen Fellowship Award by the National Press Photographers Association "for being one of our profession's most imaginative innovators." In 2001 Kristof was named a contributing photographer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society.
Leandro Blanco, Multi awards winner -Film maker Born in Spain, Leandro is the most celebrated underwater music video maker in the world. In the year 2002, for the first time in the history of the World Festival of Underwater Pictures, Antibes, the judges awarded him a honorary award for his three videos “Ocean chronicles” “Shame on you” and “With the flow” for his creative expression and his commitment to the protection of the environment. In 2004 he is named Diver of the year i n the United States at BTS (Beneath the Sea) in New York for his contribution to the art of film making , and in 2007 Greenpeace acknowledged Leandro Blanco the “Oceans Award” for his film “One for All”. The same film also won the “Celebrate the Sea 2007” Rolex Award of Excellence” for short documentary. At the age of five, he moves to New York with his family. During his high school he forms a vocal group. When he turns fourteen he won first prize at a musical festival in New York’s world fair. The Tokens, who by then had a number one hit in the charts (“The lion sleeps tonight”), become their producers. He continued to make several albums with his group and spends most of the time promoting and touring the United States. He took up flying as a hobby and gets his private pilots license at the age of nineteen. In 1970 he returns to Spain, he recorded several albums, including a double LP with his repertoire of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by VIVALDI. He also wrote several music scores for motion pictures. In 1973 he decides to turn his hobby into a career and becomes a commercial airline pilot. Today he’s an Airbus 340 captain flying for a mayor international airline company. It was back in the 80s when the first music videos came out, that got him started in filming. It was the magic of the music, moving along with the fast cutting images that caught his interest. His passion for nature had already taken him all over the world. By then he had also written several pieces of music celebrating the beauty of the Amazon jungle and the vast desserts of Africa. His first short documentary got him first prize at the London film festival, and by 1990 he had already won several mayor awards, including “VIDEO FILM MAKER OF THE YEAR” BY THE BBC WILD LIFE MAGAZINE, for his documentary skills for his video There’s a place. In 1990 he makes his first underwater documentary, which he wrote, narrated, edited, performed and wrote all the music. It’s during these years that he decides to devote all his spare time to the underwater world. He has received over 50 international awards for his documentaries, and his music scores have been acclaimed by magazines like BILLBOARD. He is also an honorary member of THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAFIC SOCIETY, for his photography in the video “JUST PASSING BY TOO” In 1999 he receives one of the most important underwater video award at the World Underwater Pictures Festival Antibes for the film “Missing You – a music documentary in memory of Jacque Yves Cousteau. Since then he is the only person that has won this prestigious award in eight consecutive years. He was the co-producer of several documentaries on the Maldives with the famous underwater photographer MICHAEL AW. He has also worked with Michael on the “24 hours beneath a Rainbow Sea” documentary produced for the National Geographic Channel broadcast worldwide. World acclaimed photographers like David Doubilet and legendary film makers like Stan Waterman, have all praised for his work.
Howard Shaw, Executive Director, Singapore Environment Council Howard Shaw is Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), a non-government organization working with business, government and civil society to help raise environmental awareness and promote greater levels of sustainability for Singapore. He graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 1995 with a degree in environmental biology and business administration, and has been a leading figure in Singapore's green movement ever since, playing a key role in shaping the country's environmental policy. In his role with the SEC he oversees the council's outreach programmes with educational bodies and the business community, and represents the council on various national bodies, including the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement's Environmental Review Committee, and the Action Plan Committee for the Singapore Green Plan 2012.
David Doubilet – National Geographic – photographer in residence One of the world’s leading underwater photographers, David Doubilet has shot more than 60 stories for National Geographic magazine since 1972. Doubilet’s undersea reporting has taken him to the Red Sea, Pearl Harbor, the South Pacific and beyond. He has captured groundbreaking images of great white sharks, flashlight fish, shark-repelling flounders, creatures of the undersea desert, flourescent coral, WW II wrecks and much more.
Dr Carden Wallace*, Principal Scientist, Museum of Tropical Queensland With her appointment in 1987 as Curator in Charge, Carden Wallace became the first woman to head the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville. Carden began her lifetime journey into the sciences in 1970, with an honours degree in science at the University of Queensland, and a thesis on earthworms. Carden has been the balancing home commitments with long hours of fieldwork since the birth of her two sons between 1974 and 1978. In 1979 Carden completed a PhD at the University of Queensland, her research still on invertebrates but now directed to tropical marine ecology with a study of soft corals, Acropora. Throughout the period since 1974, Carden's marine science research has been indicated in an extensive list of papers, reports and contributions to significant publications, including ‘A Coral Reef Handbook’, edited by Patricia Mather and Ian Bennett, and ‘Coral Reefs’, edited by L Hammond. High points in her career include the POL Prize for Environmental Research, awarded in 1992 to Carden along with four other scientists from James Cook University for their exciting discovery of mass annual spawning on the Great Barrier Reef by over a hundred species of coral. Carden's own research has focused on biogeography and biodiversity, particularly on corals and tropical biota. Her current interests are directed towards other tropical countries, especially Indonesia. She feels strongly that scientists should give back all they possibly can, in communicating and applying the results of their work.
Daniel Mercier – Founder, World Underwater Pictures Festival Antibes Daniel Mercier was born in 1931 in Clamart in the Parisian region. Sensitive to his environment, he has spent all his life making divers and people aware of sea wealth and resources. In 1967, he became a State scubadiving instructor. Today, he possesses his State 3rd degree, the best at a national level. He made more than 7,000 dives in the world oceans and seas, as much in exploration dives as being a Sea Instructor and Guide. He created the first World Festival of Underwater Pictures in 1974. Its aim was to promote underwater world, to stimulate image creation and to make this event a place where sea lovers can meet. Convinced that promoting submarine funds and scubadives environment is necessary, Daniel Mercier untiringly continues to make most people know them all over the world. He was awarded a great number of rewards as Youth and Sport Gold Medal, International Academy of Underwater Sciences and Techniques Member, in 1997, he was named Man of the Year of scuba diving world in Israel.
WYLAND* - Artist of the Sea, Founder, Wyland Foundation, Ocean Artists Society
Marine Life Artist Wyland has earned the
distinction as one of America’s most unique creative influences, and a
leading advocate for marine resource conservation. An accomplished
painter, sculptor, photographer, writer, and SCUBA diver, he has
traveled the farthest reaches of the globe for more than twenty-five
years, capturing the raw power and beauty of the undersea universe. His
non-profit Wyland Foundation has supported numerous conservation programs
since 1993, including Wyland’s monumental Whaling Wall mural project —
an epic series of more than ninety-one life size marine life murals that
spans twelve countries on four continents, and is viewed by an estimated
1 billion people every year. The artist’s efforts, moreover, have been
recognized by the United Nations, Sierra Club, the Underwater Academy of
Arts and Sciences, where he is listed among its Diving Hall of Fame, and
private and public institutions throughout the world. Listed in Who’s Who in American Art, the Guinness Book of World Records, and many other national and international publications, the multi-faceted artist has even hosted several series for television, including, “Wyland’s Ocean World” on the Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet Network. Today, he is considered one of the most influential artists of the 21st Century, with artwork in museums, corporate collections, and private homes in more than one hundred countries.
Michael AW – Director, Ocean Geographic, underwater photographer Michael AW is the founding director of OceanNEnvironment, a charity organization listed with the Registrar of Environment Australia. The mission of OceanNEnvironment promotes and initiates preservation projects as well as endeavors to document the status of coral reefs, bio-diversity and the impact of man-made pollution through research programs, and measurable conservation projects. With OceanNEnvironment, he has initiated the Napoleon wrasse protection program in the Maldives, turtle nest adoption program in Indonesia and Say No to Shark Fins campaign in the South East Asia. As co-founder of Asian Geographic and publisher of Scuba Diver from 1998 to 2005, he used the magazines to support the conservation efforts of OceanNEnvironment. Taking conservation and education of the ocean to the next level, in 2007 Michael convened an editorial board comprising of Stan Waterman, David Doubilet, Emory Kristof, Gerry Allen PHD, Carden Wallace PHD, Alex Mustard PHD, Doug Perrine, Jennifer Hayes, and Christopher Lee to launch the hallmark of publication for the sea – Ocean Geographic. Pursuing the art form of documentary photography, Michael AW is well known for his saturated colour imagery. His work on environmental issues and natural history, have been featured in BBC Wildlife, National Geographic, Asian Geographic, GEO, Underwater GEOGRAPHIC, Nature Focus, Action Asia, Scuba Diver, Smithsonian magazine, Ocean Realm (USA), Times, Asia Week, DIVE, Unterwasser, Tauchen, and Aquanaut, to name but a few. His photographs have received 50 awards from several international organizations including the prestigious Nikon International Photo Contest on three occasions. Michael is a three time winner at the World Festival of Underwater Pictures, Antibes. In 2002 he won Best Music Adaptation for Video, the Gold Diver statue for Best Black & White print in 2005 and the Bronze stature for Portfolio the most prestigious category of festival in 2006. He is also a recipient of two awards from the Natural History Museum BBC Photographer of the Year Wildlife Competition in 2000 and in 2006 he won the Best Winner award in the underwater category. Over 25,000 of his images have appeared in various publications and exhibitions worldwide including the Australian Museum and Queensland Tropical Museum. Michael has presented lectures and slide presentations on marine life and underwater photography to the Australian Museum Society, the Australian Maritime Museum, aquariums and private organizations in the pacific-rim countries including the world renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. He has produced and directed two 24-hour photographic documentaries of corals reefs in the Australian Great Barrier Reef and the Maldives in 1995 and 1999 respectively. These extended sojourns have been encapsulated in books and a broadcast video documentary for National Geographic. His first book, 'Beneath Bunaken' about the marine park in Sulawesi received the accolade of being the Presidential 'Gift of State' for Indonesia at APEC 1994. Subsequently in 1996 he produced for the Maldives – “Dreams from a Rainbow Sea”, which was used as official gift for the president, fishery and tourism offices. The Four Season Resort Maldives also used this title as premier gift for their guests. He was the co-author and photographer for TANAH AIR, bio-diversity of Indonesia. He has authored 25 natural history books about fishes, corals, invertebrates and he has also contributed to the Encyclopedias of Malaysia and Indonesia. He has collaborated with Dr. Carden Wallace in one of the most definitive book about the staghorn corals of the Indo-Pacific. His recent accomplished include the launch of “Celebrate the Sea” and Underwater Jungles both high quality case-bound collectors edition published in 2002. In 2003 he completed “Richest Reefs – Indonesia”, a visual extravaganza from some of the most beautiful reefs in the world – this book is adopted by the Indonesian government as an official gift of state. A feature documentary of the same title was also produced in 2003. His most recent work is ‘Beneath North SulaweSea’ released in October 2006 with a world wide launch in Birmingham, London, Antibes, Orlando and Singapore.
SCOTT TUASON, underwater photographer, author Scott started Scuba diving at the age of eleven in 1979. At that time he was diving without a license and had to wait until he was thirteen to get his first real formal training. By the time he was fifteen he was an advanced open water diver, and for his birthday Scott’s father gave him his first underwater camera. It was a Nikonos 5 w a 35mm lens. For many years of trail and error he used that camera to transform what he saw underwater to pictures. Most of the time with very poor results, however he knew by now that underwater photography was not something that could be learnt overnight. Scott went to college in 1986 at the University of Tampa with the hopes of getting a degree in marine biology. He never finished his marine – bio degree, instead he got a B.S. in economics and a minor in art (photography). It was in those classes where he started to learn, not so much the technical aspects of photography but the art of seeing things. Scott has been diving for 27 years and taking underwater pictures for 20 years. In 1990 he got an Open Water Instructor rating from PADI. Today Scott has logged over 4000 dives. He has dived all over the Philippines with the exception of the northern tip of Luzon and the eastern side of the Visayas and Mindanao. Outside of the Philippines, Scott has been fortunate enough to dive Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Palau & Yap, Florida, Jamaica, Mexico, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. Scott has just recently fulfilled his dream of diving with Great White sharks off the coast of Mexico. Some of his favorite sites include Anilao, Batangas for macro photography and the Sulu Sea for wide-angle shots. He contributes regularly to Asian Diver, Sport Diving Australia, Scuba Globe Asia Pacific and Action Asia, including their “Adventure guide to the Philippines”. Scott has 3 coffee table books one entitled “The Philippine Coral Reefs in Watercolor”. This book was done together with painter, Rafael Cusi. The other a large format picture book on the marine animals of Anilao, co-authored with Eduardo Cu Unjieng. The Anilao book won an award for photography at the 19th Philippine National book awards and the World grand prize for underwater image books at the 27th World Festival of Underwater Images in Antibes, France in the year 2000. As well in 2000 his photo of Mating Mandarin fish won first place at the Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society’s international competition in the digital print category. His Turtle shot was runner-up in the Wide Angle print category and a Grey reef shark photo was honorable mention in the same category. His photos also placed 2nd in the WOW Philippines contest for both underwater and topside category. Scott’s 3rd book entitled The Ultimate Orient Philippine South Sea Pearls was published in March 2002; it is the story of the pearl told in pictures. He was commissioned by Jewelmer International to shoot the book, which was a corporate gift to their preferred clients. Scott was also a major contributor to the recently published South East Asia Diving Guide by Periplus books. His photographs were also displayed at the Philippine booth during the 1998 and 2004 World Expo. They are also being used by the Philippine Department of Tourism for their WOW Philippines ad campaign. Over the past several years Scott has aided in the conservation of whale sharks in Donsol, Sorsogon. He contributes photographs to the World Wildlife Fund, which helps in the identification of individual animals found in the area. Scott also gives slide shows during fund-raisers for their different projects and contributes photos for their annual report and calendar. He is a founding member of the Concerned Divers for the Philippines, a non-profit organization that brings awareness to environmental issues affecting the oceans. Some of their projects include coral reef surveys, giant clam seeding, and reef clean-ups. Recently Scott has also been a supporter of Greenpeace (he was invited on-board the Rainbow Warrior and Esperanza) and is also involved with Reef Check. Scott has just recently launched his 4th forth book titled BAHURA – A Passage through Philippine Reefs, a large format picture book shot on location all over the Philippines. Scott is currently working on two books, one on Anilao and the other on Tubbataha reef in conjunction with WWF-Philippines. Scott is a regular contributor to Asian Diver (Singapore), Sport Diving (Australia), Scuba Globe Asia Pacific (Thailand) and Philippine Diver & Thai Diver. He has had over 75 articles and 18 magazine covers published in various magazines from all over the world.
Gunther Deichmann: environmentalist, photographer Gunther Deichmann is an internationally multi-awarded Australian photographer. Born in Germany on the 25th of April 1951, he spent his early years studying Paleontology. He has and always will love his fossils. At the age of 21, he journeyed to Australia with just one suitcase in hand. He then worked as a geology assistant in the exploration department for a large mining company. This gave Gunther the privilege of traveling throughout the Australian Outback, which to him, is among the most beautiful places on earth. It is nature at its best, and his quest to capture this beauty that led him to photography. In 1974, he became an Australian citizen while in Alice Springs, the very center of Australia, which he remains proud of until today. In 1976 he gave up geology and started his full time career in photography. He started with a small photo laboratory in Darwin, the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, producing the very first Ciba Chrome prints of this magnificent land. He had his first break with an image of “The Olgas With A Rainbow”. The Olgas is a spectacular land formation some 30 miles from Ayers Rock. Many believe that this was the very first image of the Olgas with an actual rainbow. To get the shot, he patiently watched the clouds waiting for the light to be just right, thus creating this amazing image. This image has won him many awards and been used on numerous international book covers. From then on the rainbows seemed to keep following him around, another first was the “Rainbow over Rainbow Valley”, 60 miles south of Alice Springs. He preferred to travel during the worst time of the year when temperatures soared in the hope for clouds in the desert, creating images seldom seen before. Even today, Gunther prefers to travel off-season, as in Santorini Greece in 2005. His choice to go in the middle of winter yielded dramatic results. To Gunther, photography is light and light is photography. He loves strong colours and contrast blending it with plenty of drama. He traveled throughout the Northern Territory, creating an immense amount of images and established one of the first stock image librarys in Australia. He later became a member of the Institute of Australian Professional Photography (IAPP) and achieved 14 merit awards in only three years. He was awarded the associateship and had the honour of becoming one of the judges for the yearly Professional Merit Awards. It was during this time that he started to teach photography at the Community College in Darwin. This was welcomed additional income to fund his extensive travels. In March 1983, Time Magazine used on its cover Gunther's shot of “The Great Australian Dry”. It was his much awaited break. In 1985, the IAAP awarded him the Professional Landscape Photographer of the Year. In 1986, he was named by the Bulletin, an Australia magazine, as one of the leading professional photographers in the country. In that same year, the IAAP requested Gunther to assist renowned New York-based photographer Pete Turner during his visit to Australia. Pete, who at first photographed Ayers Rock, returned a few years later to photograph other great places like the Pinnacles in Western Australia. Gunther and Pete inevitably became good friends and are in touch until today. The reputable publishing company, Rigby Publishers in Adelaide, South Australia hired Gunther over these years for various book projects which includes: My Territory in 1983, his first major coffee-table book and one of the very first books on the Northern Territory of Australia. In 1984 Norfolk Island and Its People followed. For this he traveled to Tahiti and Pitcairn Island, retracing the steps of the mutineers of the famed Mutiny on the Bounty. In 1985 Australian Natural Wonders came out after eight months of shooting in some of the most remote places in Australia, including two of Australia's largest desserts, the Simpson and Tanami. In 1985 Savvas Publishing, Australia, published his book, The Territory, a 256-page coffee-table book featuring the Northern Territory of Australia. In 1989 Collins Publishers, also in Australia, published his book, Northern Images, his first artistic book, which featured his personal favorite images of the Northern Territory. Beyond books, Gunther's work also appeared in international media. His coverage about the killing of Australian wild horses for the German magazine, Stern, helped stop the practice. The message of his 11-page photo essay in Stern found its way to other publications, and the images of carnage soon were seen worldwide, appearing not only in print but also on television, including CNN. As a result of this, he was invited by the Court for Animal Justice (U.N.) in Geneva, Switzerland, to be the key spokesperson to condemn the killing of horses in an inhumane way. The exposé was followed by similar works on other animals such as wild camels and buffalo. The Geo Magazine in Germany used his Australian images both for the magazine and for a major calendar production. Airone Magazine in Italy sent Gunther to Nauru and the Philippines for photo assignments. He also covered major stories for Animan Magazine in Switzerland. It published his portfolio in 1990, and then later, his photo essays of the Philippines, the Mekong River in Indochina, the Australian Aborigines, and Australia each featuring spreads from 24 to 26 pages and two covers. Gunther's images have also appeared in other major book productions, including The Racing Game, National Geographic, Time-Life, Reader's Digest, BBC (London), and in magazines such as the cover of Der Spiegel (Germany), Bunte (cover), National Magazine (South Africa), National Geographic , New York Times (USA), Sued Deutsche Zeitung (Germany), Grand Reportage (France), VSD (France), GEO (France), Terre Savage (France), and Figaro (France). He was featured in a documentary titled Visions in the Making, which was broadcast on ABC ( Australia ). Of the four Australian artists featured, he was the only still photographer. 1982 to 1985 - He has won an impressive 14 merit awards from the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (IAAP). 1985 - Australian Professional Landscape Photographer of the Year. 1986 - A collection of Gunther Deichmann's photographs in an Australian tourist promotion won for its publishers a unique clean sweep of prizes in its category at the International Travel Awards - first prize for Best Domestic Brochure, first prize for Best International Brochure and the National Tourism Award. 1986 - One of Gunther Deichmann's photographs was used in an advertising campaign that won awards at the Art Directors Club in Melbourne, Australia. 1987 - The NT Press Club Annual Media Awards in Australia awarded Gunther Deichmann the ‘Pictorial Excellence Award'. He also received the ‘Sheraton Award' for pictorial promotion of tourism in the Northern Territory. A photo-essay for Thai International Airlines won him a PATA category award, and he has been on the PATA Gold Awards Honors Roll in Osaka, Japan, since 1987. In March 2007, Gunther Deichmann received his Apple Training Certification for Aperture. Gunther still travels throughout Asia and Micronesia covering remote places in the region. Every year he chooses new destinations to capture images, if only for his own personal satisfaction. An Australian by heart, he dreams of returning one day for a six-month shoot, visiting again the place he loves so much—the Great Australian outback, which inspired and challenged him to make the great shift from Paleontology to Photography.
Frederic Buyle – 5 times world champion free dive/underwater photographer Frederic was born in 1972. Spending several months a year on the family's sailboat since his early years, he has always been in contact with the sea. At the age of 10, he discovers free diving. After some years of practice, he turned to scuba diving for a while and became a Padi and Cmas scuba diving instructor. He starts to teach free diving in 1991. Two years after completing publicity and communication studies, he set his 1st world record in 1995 and decided to dedicate his life to free diving and began to travel the world. He achieved two more world records in 1997 and 1999. The same year, Frederic passed the100m's mythical barrier in breath hold diving. He was the 8th person in the world to do so. In 2000, he set his last world record.Since then, Frederic keeps on traveling to free dive and teach free diving all over the world. In 2002, he started underwater photography to be able to show the beauty of free diving and the underwater world to the wider audience. Frederic comes from an artistic background. His grand grand father was a photography’s pioneer in the 1890’ and art collector, his grand father a painter and his father has been an commercial and fashion photographer during the 60’. His work shows these various influences. All his pictures are taken in freediving action. To take his pictures, Fred uses a simple formula: the water, available light, a camera, and one breath of air. A free diver is able to capture unique moments thanks to his simple equipment and ease of movement. Frederic has been taking pictures down to 60m on a single breath on remote locations where scuba divers can’t access. Fred uses the same method for his uw video work. Published in Apnea, Chocs, Diver, Diver Japan,Dyking, L'Equipe Magazine, Focus, Hawaii Skin Diver, Holland Herald (klm inflight mag), Melange, Men’s Health, National Geographic, New Look, Nice Matin, Océans, Plongeurs International, Thalassa, Times Tavel Magazine amongst others. Corporate: IWC Shaffausen watches, Hamilton Watches, Red Bull, Tahiti Tourisme, Instruments & Mesures du Temps watches. In 2006 Fred together with Emma Farrell released “One breath, A Reflection on Freedivng”, Pynto publishing, UK. Fred is working closely with the Malpelo Foundation for hammerhead and odontaspis ferox shark tagging programs.
Ferdie Marcelo – environmentalist, Seacology Ferdie Marcelo is the Seacology Field Representative for the Philippines. Prior to joining Seacology, Ferdie worked for six years for the Philippine Senate where he often backstopped for the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, as well as the Committee on Education. He was also involved with the Technical Working Group that drafted the Solid Waste Management Act, and the Medium-Term Higher Education Development and Investment Plan. An avid scuba diver since being certified in 1985, Ferdie eventually earned his NAUI instructor rating in 1991. Working as a free-lance divemaster and instructor enabled him to dive in many places all over the Philippines. Ferdie’s CTS presentation will focus on Seacology’s win-win projects in the Philippines. Seacology is an international ngo with the sole purpose of preserving the environments and cultures of islands throughout the world. Seacology does this by giving villagers a tangible incentive they request such as a school, community center or fresh water delivery system in exchange for establishing a marine or forest reserve. Lynn Funkhouser – underwater photographer Lynn Funkhouser was inducted into the inaugural Women Divers Hall of Fame. She is an internationally published photographer, author, lecturer, environmentalist, adventuress, and leader in dive travel. She specializes in underwater, nature, travel, and environmental images. Lynn's dramatic photos have been published in calendars, ads, and major magazines, notably in "Audubon," "Animals," "Action Asia," "International Wildlife," "Time," "Newsweek" and "National Geographic" Publications, etc. She also has exhibited her work in many galleries. As an environmentalist, Lynn is committed to making a difference on this planet through her images and lectures. One of the founders of the International Marinelife Alliance (IMA) in 1985, Lynn serves on the Board of Directors. Lynn was honored to receive the 1994 SEASPACE / PADI Environmental Awareness Award which recognizes outstanding effort in the cause of marine conservation and education "for her continuing efforts promoting reef preservation in the Philippines and around the world." She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Philippine Aquatic and Marinelife Conservationists' Association, Inc. (PAMARCON) for "her outstanding contributions on behalf of the conservation and preservation of the marine environment of the Philippines." She is an expert on diving in the Philippine Islands spending 2 months every year since 1976 diving 250 islands. She was a special consultant to the John G. Shedd Aquarium for the 15,000 square. ft. building. addition, "Wild Reef" featuring Apo Island, Philippines, which opened in 2003. She leads several dive trips a year to the Philippines. She was also a special consultant to the Smithsonian Institution on Shells and Ocean Planet, 1995. She served as the photographer on the research project - Shiraho Coral Reef & the Proposed New lshigaki Island Airport, Japan, with a review of the status of the coral reefs of the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan, prepared by the International Marinelife Alliance Canada for Species Survival Commission and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Switzerland, which saved Shiraho's 600 year old blue coral reef from becoming an airport. It was the first environmental research study to stop a Japanese project.
Mathieu Meur author, underwater photographer Growing up in Mauritius, Mathieu developed a love for the sea at an early age and started photographing the underwater world using disposable cameras in his early teens while snorkeling. After graduating with a Master of Engineering, he moved to Singapore where he went on to become a part-time dive instructor in addition to his regular job. Over the past few years, Mathieu has traveled extensively throughout the region for diving, contributed to the training of several hundred divers, conducted seminars and had numerous articles in dive publications in relation to underwater digital photography. Mathieu also authored a PADI-approved Distinctive Specialty course entitled ‘Underwater Digital Photographer’, which aims at getting people started on the right foot in underwater digital photography. More recently, Mathieu co-authored “An Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography” with Michael Aw
Filemon G. Romero, Project Manager, WWF Philippines Prof. Filemon G. Romero is a candidate for a Ph.D. in Environmental Science at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and he is about to defend his paper on the Population Structure of Blue Crabs, Portunus pelagicus in the Visayan Sea. He has a Masters degree in Physical Oceanography from the same university. He has been a faculty member of the Mindanao State University Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography since 1971 where he rose in faculty rank as well as administrative functions until he became Chancellor in 1989 to 1994. He joined WWF Philippines in 1996 where he served as Director of the Oceans and Coasts Program. His engagement with WWF gave him extensive experience in administration and implementation of projects in marine protected areas (MPAs), biodiversity conservation, Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDP) and Coastal Resources Management (CRM) and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM). This also gave him a lot of opportunity to travel to various part of the world. He has co-authored the Coral Reef Education for Students and Teachers (CREST) and has published 14 papers.
Peter Scoones (UK), cinematographer BBC – for CTS 2009
Film Credits:
"The
Blue Planet" (camera operator)
(1 episode, 2001) Amazing Earth (1998) (TV)
"Life
in the Freezer" (camera team)
Nature" (2 episodes, 2003-2007) Galápagos (2007) (TV) The Making of 'Deep Blue' (2006) (V)
"Wild
Indonesia" (3 episodes, 1999) Great White Shark (1995) (TV) "Sea Trek" (1991) (mini) TV mini-series
"The
Trials of Life" (2 episodes, 1990)
"The
Living Planet" (1 episode, 1984)
"Life
on Earth" (1 episode, 1979) When Peter Scoones was serving in the Royal Air Force in the Far East in the early 1960’s the shops only stocked facemasks. He bought one so he could more easily see to scrub the hull of his racing dinghy. However, one glimpse of the colourful fish and scenery below was sufficient to arouse a passion that has taken him to the highest ranks of the world’s most highly regarded wildlife underwater cameramen. He trained as a naval architect but, when he was due to be called up for National Service, instead decided to sign up for the RAF and “let them teach me something useful”. That was photography and he learned to use and repair everything from 35mm to 5in x 4in film cameras as well as cine models. He also did everything from pack shots and portraits to air-to-air photography. At the same time he made housings in Perspex so he could take his photography underwater and soon began to produce results that went on to win gold medals at international film festivals. At the same time, he and his friends formed their own diving club, devised training programmes and taught themselves to dive with the assistance of the local Royal Navy unit. At the end of his time in the RAF Peter returned to the UK and began working in the photographic trade as colour manager of a Fleet Street processing laboratory. That was when he met Colin Doeg and together, in 1967, they formed the British Society of Underwater Photographers. The
Society’s first splash-ins were at Shoreham and Swanage, on the south
coast. Later they moved to Fort Bovisand at Plymouth and the on-the-day
shoot-out format that Peter devised is now the basis of competitions
throughout the world, including the CMAS world title event. Led by
Peter, some of the members used to process the day’s films in the
dungeons at the Fort and the audience voted for their favourite images,
a practice adopted by BsoUP to overcome the fierce controversies that
usually followed judges’ decisions at contests. While he was working for that company he had his big break. The BBC heard that he had developed a special low light television camera and wanted to hire it for an expedition to the Comoros to film coelacanths, the oldest fish in the world. Peter said the camera was only available if he came along to operate it … and that is how he first met David Attenborough, who is instantly recognisable throughout the world as the voice and face of wildlife films. The method of controlling the camera was crude. It was dangled deep in the ocean at the end of a steel hawser that was raised, lowered and twisted to direct it. Eventually the camera met its fate when it was trapped in a gully and torn adrift from the hawser but the expedition led to a continuing involvement with the BBC’s Natural History Unit and strings of awards for the films and videos for which his work was a major or total part. In the process he has dived everywhere from the tropics to beneath the ice. He knows the world’s oceans like most people know their own garden or street. He is the only person to have been awarded the title of British Underwater Photographer of the Year twice.
Dr Phil Nyutten – Deep Sea Explorer – for CTS 2009 Dr. Phil Nuytten has spent his life in subsea exploration. He has logged many thousands of hours underwater world-wide as a working commercial diver and as a developer of underwater equipment and techniques. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the modern commercial diving industry and a significant force in the creation of new technology. In the 1960's and 70's, Nuytten was heavily involved in experimental deep-diving and the development of mixed gas decompression tables. In 1968 he was a member of the team that completed the first 600 foot ocean ‘bounce’ dives on ‘Project Nesco’, and in 1972 he wrote the protocol for ‘Deep Work 1000’, the first North American thousand foot saturation dive. These early projects helped set the international standards in use today. During this period, Phil Nuytten co-founded Oceaneering International Inc. Oceaneering International pioneered many early subsea development projects, and has gone on to become one of the largest underwater skills companies in the world.
In the 1970’s, working with long-time colleague Dr. Joe MacInnis, Nuytten headed the equipment research component of a series of high-arctic expeditions. Among the goals of these expeditions was the testing of his own designs of life-support gear for use in polar and sub-polar conditions. In 1984, Phil Nuytten appeared on the cover of National Geographic Magazine for his record dives through ice-covered arctic waters onto the ‘Breadalbane’, the northern-most known shipwreck. His involvement in underwater activities in virtually all of the world’s oceans has resulted in articles on his work in Reader’s Digest, Business Week, Newsweek, Time, Popular Science, Discovery, Fortune, and Scientific American, as well as dozens of dozens of diving and aerospace technical journals. Nuytten is a popular speaker at underwater conferences around the world and has published numerous technical papers on his leading-edge work in subsea technology.
Dr. Phil Nuytten has been instrumental in the development and current acceptance of Atmospheric Diving System technology. In 1979, he began work on a revolutionary new one-atmosphere diving suit that resulted in a patented break-through in rotary joint design, and formed the basis for the world-famous ‘Newtsuit’. The ‘Newtsuit’ is a thousand foot-rated hard suit that completely protects the wearer from outside pressure and eliminates the need for decompression while still maintaining mobility and dexterity – a “submarine that you wear”. It is now standard equipment in many of the world’s navies. In1997, Nuytten and his design team produced the two thousand foot-rated micro-submersible ‘DeepWorker 2000’: a revolutionary deep-diving system that has been called an “underwater sports car”. Nuytten and Nuytco Research Ltd. received a five year contract from the National Geographic Society to provide DeepWorker 2000 submersibles and crews on Dr. Sylvia Earle’s ‘Sustainable Seas Expeditions’: an initiative to study deep ocean environmental impact. The use of the DeepWorker micro-subs to explore and monitor National marine sanctuaries has already increased scientists’ understanding of underwater ecology, habitats, and biodiversity.
In 1999, NASA contracted a pair of DeepWorkers to study their possible use in the recovery of the Space Shuttle booster rockets, and in 2000 DeepWorkers successfully recovered the Space Shuttle booster rockets from the May flight to the U.S. Space Station. NASA is currently studying acquisition of a pair of titanium Deepworkers specifically dedicated to booster rocket recovery. Nuytten’s work with NASA spans more than twenty-five years, and he has published several papers on space applications of undersea technology. He is also a senior member of the American Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a life member of the American Association of Underwater Scientists.
Also in the year 2000, Nuytten introduced a new concept for an ultra light weight, swimming, hard suit called the ‘Exosuit’. Nuytten and his team recently completed a contract for the Canadian Department of National Defence to examine the feasibility of using the Exosuit as a submarine escape device. The Beta prototype of the Exosuit underwent swim testing in 2005 and target date for release is 2006. Plans to utilize a space version of the Exosuit are under discussion and Nuytten a |
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