{"id":18763,"date":"2021-09-02T14:43:57","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T18:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.world.dan.org\/?post_type=dan_alert_diver&p=18763"},"modified":"2023-06-23T10:18:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T14:18:05","slug":"aw-inspired","status":"publish","type":"dan_alert_diver","link":"https:\/\/world.dan.org\/fr\/alert-diver\/article\/aw-inspired\/","title":{"rendered":"Aw Inspired"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I interview the photographers for our Shooter series, I\u2019ve come to expect a certain uniformity of inspiration. Those of a certain age frequently became enthused about scuba diving through the old black-and-white episodes of Chasse en mer<\/em>. Des personnes un peu plus jeunes peuvent avoir regard\u00e9 Le monde sous-marin de Jacques Cousteau<\/em> as a vicarious portal to ocean adventure. Michael Aw\u2019s story was the first I\u2019d heard from any photographer of a childhood without any experience or fantasy related to the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While growing up in Singapore, Aw was on a path of single-minded dedication to school and ultimately earning a college degree. He was 12 years old before he went to an aquarium and didn\u2019t see a beach until three years later. The ocean survival training of his mandatory military service at age 17 was the first time he put his face below the surface. His early life gave few clues that he would one day become one of the most influential print journalists in destination diving and ocean conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"brydes
Bryde\u2019s whale feeding\u00a0(The Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa): Bryde\u2019s whales (Balaenoptera edeni) appear quietly from the deep with a single mission in mind: swim through the bait ball and engulf as many fish as possible. If you are in a whale\u2019s path, you will either end up inside its mouth or tossed away with incredible force. On this particular day I was thrown out of the water twice. Then I learned to position myself at a distance and wait. It took quite a while, but the patience paid dividends with this image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Poisson-mandarin\"
Mandarinfish threesome\u00a0(Palau): Following in the footsteps of David Doubilet, in 1997 I went to Palau for a dive cruise on the same vessel he used for a\u00a0National Geographic\u00a0feature. Bert Yates, Doubilet\u2019s guide for his Palau shoot, suggested that I work on images of mating mandarinfish. We started the dive just before sunset. Bert was great at spotting and lighting males showing off their dorsal fins to attract willing females. After 30 minutes I got a great shot of a mating pair clear of any obstruction. With some of my 36 frames left, I signaled Bert for one last try. In the next 30 seconds or so, we captured this threesome. When we got out of the water, he told me that it was the first time he had seen a threesome. I smiled at the thought that I might be the first to capture it on film.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dipl\u00f4m\u00e9 en \u00e9conomie de l'universit\u00e9 de Bristol en Angleterre, Aw s'est lanc\u00e9 dans une carri\u00e8re de marketing. Pendant les 15 ann\u00e9es qui ont suivi, il a travaill\u00e9 pour quelques grandes agences de publicit\u00e9 et a \u00e9t\u00e9 affect\u00e9 \u00e0 leurs bureaux de Singapour, d'Australie, de Hong Kong et de San Francisco. Ce chapitre de sa vie consacr\u00e9 \u00e0 l'entreprise lui a permis de bien gagner sa vie, mais avec un travail incessant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Au bord du burn-out, il s'est tourn\u00e9 vers la plong\u00e9e sous-marine comme passe-temps pour avoir quelque chose de diff\u00e9rent dans sa vie. Il a d\u00e9couvert qu'avec Singapour comme porte d'entr\u00e9e, il pouvait quitter son travail le jeudi soir, se rendre quelque part en Asie o\u00f9 la plong\u00e9e \u00e9tait bonne et rentrer chez lui le dimanche soir. Il a fini par ajouter un Nikonos III et un Nikonos V \u00e0 son kit de voyage et a commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 prendre ses premi\u00e8res photos sous-marines, qui \u00e9taient, comme on pouvait s'y attendre, d\u00e9cevantes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Requins
Dusky sharks feeding on a sardine bait ball\u00a0(The Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa): I have been chasing sardine bait balls off the east coast of South Africa every June and July since 2004. In late June 2010 I encountered the mother lode. This mass of sardines reached from the surface down to about 80 feet and was more than 300 feet wide. We found it at about 9 a.m. and left utterly exhausted after seven hours of nonstop shooting. This image is from early in the day before the onslaught of gannets, whales, dolphins and sharks. I positioned myself at the edge of the ball to meet this dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus) emerging from the massive crowd of sardines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"ruban
Ribbonfish\u00a0(South Misool, Raja Ampat, Indonesia): The polka-dot ribbonfish or deal fish (Desmodema polystictum) is a deep-water fish first discovered in 1897. It was not until 2011 that researchers verified an adult specimen in the Indian Ocean. I found this juvenile during a blackwater dive in September 2018 and was ecstatic to photograph this species alive, especially in its juvenile stage. Since then, more specimens have been photographed in Japan and the Philippines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Infect\u00e9 par le virus de la plong\u00e9e et de la photographie sous-marine, il a v\u00e9cu un moment d\u00e9cisif dans sa carri\u00e8re lors d'un s\u00e9jour de huit mois \u00e0 Bunaken, sur l'\u00eele de Sulawesi du Nord, en Indon\u00e9sie, alors qu'il \u00e9tait en cong\u00e9 sabbatique. Il a affin\u00e9 sa photographie sous-marine pour en faire une comp\u00e9tence commercialisable et a produit suffisamment d'images de qualit\u00e9 pour en faire un livre. Alors que la plupart des photographes travaillent dur et longtemps pour d\u00e9velopper un corpus d'\u0153uvres susceptibles de faire l'objet d'un livre, Aw a mis \u00e0 profit l'exp\u00e9rience qu'il avait acquise dans le domaine de l'\u00e9dition \u00e0 l'\u00e9poque o\u00f9 il travaillait dans une agence de publicit\u00e9 pour \u00e9laborer un plan d'affaires lui permettant d'auto-publier le livre et de s'occuper lui-m\u00eame de sa commercialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C'\u00e9tait le bon produit au bon moment, et ses efforts ont fait du livre un succ\u00e8s. Il a vendu suffisamment d'exemplaires aux entreprises locales et au gouvernement indon\u00e9sien pour atteindre un large public. Le livre a servi de carte de visite \u00e0 d'autres destinations qui souhaiteraient pr\u00e9senter leurs attractions sous-marines de la m\u00eame mani\u00e8re. Depuis qu'Aw a publi\u00e9 Sous Bunaken : Un almanach en images<\/em> en 1993, il a \u00e9t\u00e9 l'auteur principal ou l'un des principaux contributeurs de 43 autres ouvrages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"iceberg\"
Iceberg\u00a0(Scoresby Sund, Greenland): Icebergs are metaphors for the ocean: We pay attention to the 10 percent we see above water but ignore the 90 percent that we do not see. I saw this iceberg with the fast-eroding mountain glacier in the background during a 2015 expedition to Greenland. The dark, clouded sky adds dimension to the gloomy narrative of our world climate crisis. This is one of my most successful over-under photos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"restes
Iceberg remnants\u00a0(Scoresby Sund, Greenland): Scoresby Sund on the eastern coast of Greenland is our planet\u2019s longest fjord system. Its main expanse stretches approximately 68 miles before branching into a series of smaller fjords extending further inland. The awe-inspiring Greenland ice sheet meets the innermost tips of the fjords, churning out fresh meltwater and a bountiful supply of colossal icebergs. The icebergs in the back of this image average 100 feet high, and the foreground reveals how little remains of a once-mighty iceberg beneath a warm blue sky.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once the book\u2019s story of the beauty beneath the sea was readily available, dive shops on the island proliferated. In 1993 two full-time dive resorts were in operation, which increased to 10 in 1995, 15 in 1999 and 25 by the mid-2000s. The growth isn\u2019t directly related to any single publication, but Aw sold a few hundred books to SilkAir, which soon began operating a direct flight from Singapore after recognizing the region\u2019s scuba tourism potential. Easy air access contributed to Bunaken\u2019s success as a dive destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Les \u00e9diteurs de Le royaume des oc\u00e9ans<\/em> magazine bought a few hundred copies of the Bunaken book and sold them at the annual Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) trade show. This success led to several destination collaborations and Aw\u2019s first foray into dive magazines. As an Asian photographer, he had found it difficult to be accepted by dive magazines in Europe and Asia in the early 1990s, but this U.S. publisher gave him his first big break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Crocodile
American crocodile\u00a0(Jardines de la Reina, Cuba): The reclusive American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is surprisingly easy to find at Jardines de la Reina, a marine protected area off the southeastern coast of Cuba. In 2013 I started including these crocodiles in my annual sojourn. To get pictures of them in a different light, I persuaded the guides to allow us to shoot them against a sunset. I hope to eventually get an image of the setting sun between the jaws of one of these enigmatic reptiles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Esp\u00e8ce
Endemic flasher wrasse\u00a0(Flasher Beach, Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia): Since my early years of underwater photographic pursuits, I have sought the challenge of shooting flasher wrasses all over Indonesia and the Philippines. In 2009 I learned of a new species recently identified in Triton Bay and the Fak Fak Peninsula in West Papua, Indonesia. I immediately organized a charter to Triton Bay to photograph this endemic species,\u00a0Paracheilinus nursalim. The best time to shoot is in the late afternoon when the male flashers show off their dorsal fins to attract a potential female partner. Patience and swift shooting in rapid mode are essential for capturing this speedy fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Raies
Reef manta ray aggregation\u00a0(Hanifaru Bay, Baa Atoll, Maldives): I first encountered the aggregation of reef manta rays (Mobula\u00a0alfredi) at Hanifaru Bay in 2002. After National Geographic featured the events in a 2009 story, I rushed back to Hanifaru before the world descended upon this tiny, no-longer-secret bay. I dived in the middle of a vortex of more than 150 mantas in a feeding frenzy. For this picture, I was at 65 feet and looking up to the surface at the mantas swimming in a merry-go-round.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Phoque
Leopard seal\u00a0(Astrolabe Island, Antarctic): During a 2010 expedition to the Antarctic, the best day featured a sunny, clear blue sky and several leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) frolicking around a towering iceberg. We spent an hour or so interacting with these iconic Antarctic animals in balmy 35\u00b0F water. I remember donning a borrowed drysuit and shooting in shutter-speed-priority mode for the first time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"le
Bobbit worm\u00a0(Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia): After the governor of North Sulawesi commissioned a new book in 2006, I needed some new pictures that no one had seen before. I remembered reading about bobbit worms (Eunice aphroditois) lunging quickly from their burrows in the sand to prey upon unsuspecting butterflyfish and rising high from the seafloor to snatch them in passing. My dive guide helped me find bobbit worms, but we did not know much about their feeding behavior. I thought the best time would be near sunset when fish tend to move more slowly. I selected the biggest worm in the vicinity, positioned myself and steadfastly focused my camera. I waited for 90 minutes on the first evening and 65 minutes on the second. Drowsy fish swam past, but this lazy worm did not strike. On the final night dive, I found the same worm but asked my guide to search for a more active candidate. As he returned despondent, he caused a goatfish to swim into this worm\u2019s path. I pressed the shutter, and it was over in a flash. At five frames per second, I captured this image on the second frame. More than two-thirds of the fish was already pulled inside the burrow by the fifth frame.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Aw a \u00e9galement mis \u00e0 profit ses comp\u00e9tences en marketing et son exp\u00e9rience pour organiser avec succ\u00e8s des \u00e9v\u00e9nements li\u00e9s \u00e0 la plong\u00e9e. En 1999, il a con\u00e7u un projet dans le cadre duquel lui et cinq autres photographes devaient documenter une journ\u00e9e dans la vie des r\u00e9cifs coralliens des Maldives en passant 24 heures sous l'eau \u00e0 l'aide de recycleurs semi-ferm\u00e9s. Cette exp\u00e9rience a donn\u00e9 naissance au livre 24 heures sous la mer arc-en-ciel, Maldives : L'almanach en images<\/em> and a companion television documentary for National Geographic. The project\u2019s success opened the door for the 2003 publication of R\u00e9cifs les plus riches : Indon\u00e9sie<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Si les livres ont \u00e9t\u00e9 la monnaie d'\u00e9change de sa carri\u00e8re, la production d'images pour les livres a \u00e9galement cr\u00e9\u00e9 une activit\u00e9 lucrative de photographie d'archives. Getty Images le repr\u00e9sentait et, \u00e0 son apog\u00e9e, il gagnait $80 000 euros par an gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 la r\u00e9utilisation de ses photographies. Ce d\u00e9bouch\u00e9 suppl\u00e9mentaire \u00e9tait essentiellement une activit\u00e9 annexe \u00e0 la production de livres et \u00e0 l'\u00e9criture pour le compte de Plongeur sous-marin<\/em> et Plongeur<\/em> au Royaume-Uni, l'entreprise allemande Tauchen<\/em> et d'autres magazines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La m\u00eame ann\u00e9e que son projet aux Maldives, M. Aw a lanc\u00e9 une s\u00e9rie de projets d'\u00e9dition \u00e0 partir de Singapour. G\u00e9ographie asiatique<\/em> a \u00e9t\u00e9 le premier, con\u00e7u comme un National Geographic<\/em> with an exclusively Asian influence. For someone so immersed in the underwater world, however, there weren\u2019t enough opportunities in a general interest magazine to tell stories about diving. So in 2001 he bought an existing dive magazine, Scuba Diver Australasia<\/em>. Bien que ces deux magazines soient toujours des publications \u00e0 succ\u00e8s dans leurs domaines respectifs, Aw n'est plus impliqu\u00e9 dans leur production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Au lieu de cela, il a cr\u00e9\u00e9 en 2007 G\u00e9ographie des oc\u00e9ans<\/em>le magazine qu'il continue de publier. Cette publication trimestrielle \u00e0 but non lucratif pr\u00e9sente des articles sur la conservation des oc\u00e9ans et l'environnement. Il permet \u00e9galement de lancer des exp\u00e9ditions, dont une grande tous les cinq ans, qui rassemble jusqu'\u00e0 50 participants et se d\u00e9roule g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement dans une r\u00e9gion exotique telle que l'Antarctique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for what\u2019s next, Aw says he has pictures in his mind to execute over the next decade \u2014 images in which he sees a personal challenge and a story to tell. He\u2019d like to consider passing on G\u00e9ographie des oc\u00e9ans<\/em> \u00e0 une nouvelle \u00e9quipe de publication et se consacrer davantage \u00e0 l'exploration des grands fonds marins \u00e0 l'aide de submersibles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d also like to devote more time to his passion: shark conservation. After a meeting with Peter Benchley on the 25th anniversary of \"Les Dents de la Mer\"<\/em> et le soutien et l'inspiration de Stan Waterman, David Doubilet et Sylvia Earle, Aw milite depuis longtemps pour l'interdiction de la soupe aux ailerons de requins \u00e0 Singapour. Ces efforts resteront l'un des engagements de sa vie, et il esp\u00e8re sensibiliser le public \u00e0 la folie du shark-finning et \u00e0 la surexploitation de nos ressources marines.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Dauphins
Common\u00a0dolphins charging into baitball\u00a0(The Wild Coast, Eastern Cape, South Africa): These short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) hunt like wolves of the sea by carving out a group of fish from the main shoal and herding it to the surface before charging into the buffet. The gannets, seals, sharks and whales are freeloaders. This image shows the hard-working dolphins escorting the sardines to the surface. Soon sharks will charge in from the left and right, birds will dive from above, and whales will soar up from the deep.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"M\u00e9rou
Grouper spawning 2019\u00a0(Fakarava, South Passage, French Polynesia): An annual aggregation of brown-marbled grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) occurs at Tumakohua Pass (South Pass) in Fakarava, French Polynesia. During this spawning event, a female and several males swiftly rise together in a tight dance up the water column. When you see them dashing upward, you will be too late to get the shot. The secret is to locate a female grouper with a bulging belly. I focused on and tracked this female. Once she started to fidget and rise upward, I began shooting in burst mode. I did not see the spawn when I was shooting this image; it was only in postproduction that I realized I had captured the moment when the female released her eggs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

En savoir plus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

See more of Michael Aw\u2019s amazing images in these videos and a galerie de photos bonus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n