Sony Artisans Of Imagery Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier are the acclaimed documentary photographers and co-founders of SeaLegacy. They are on a global mission of conservation. SeaLegacy is a conservation collective of experienced storytellers dedicated to protecting our oceans, and aboard SeaLegacy 1, a catamaran rebuilt specifically for documenting their journey, Nicklen and Mittermeier will spend the next four years on and in the water. They have set themselves up to be as self-sufficient as possible when exploring the depths of the ocean with rebreathers, scuba cylinders, and some 30 Sony cameras, lenses and housings. The team's goal is to create images and stories that allow us, the audience, to connect with life in the oceans in a way that we may not have done before.
In the latest episode of SeaLegacy: The Voyage, we catch up with the team after they've sailed across the Gulfstream and made it to the Bahamas. With a round of repairs behind them, Mittermeier reflects on how the team will proceed now that they've made it past the first difficult stage of the journey. "From that first day," says Mittermeier, "it's just like an open canvas, where are we going to go? We really wanted to contrast the potential the Bahamas have as a blue economy vs. oil drilling." To help tell this part of the story, they focused on a pod of spotted dolphins.
The dolphins are social, playful, beautiful and relatable, and, as it turns out, not the easiest creatures in the sea to capture on camera. After a search, the team found the pod, but frustratingly, the dolphins departed just as the SeaLegacy team got fully geared up and into the water. "This is amazing on the first day. We get the cameras and jump in the water. And they leave us instantly," Nicklen says. The dolphins are in charge of the encounter and as Nicklen says, "We're not interesting enough, not moving fast enough or something." The team set out to see if they can engage with the dolphins again only to have the same result. With determination, passion and an understanding of the environment, Nicklen and the SeaLegacy team work to get footage of the pod. Watch episode two to see how they create some stunning images.
See SeaLegacy | The Voyage Episode 1, Setting Sail:
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