In a performance protest against the Australian shark cull and the global slaughter of sharks, my super talented creative partner Hannah Fraser risked it all to dance on the sea floor with swarms of tiger sharks up to 17 feet long without any dive or protective gear.
In our quest to inspire mainstream audiences across the globe to protect our ocean’s vulnerable marine creatures, Hannah Fraser and I have tackled some of the most complex and challenging shoots ever attempted. From the ‘Whale Shark Fashion Shoot‘ to humpback whales in ‘Betrayal‘, and our crowning achievement ‘Mantas Last Dance‘, we have braved the elements and shattered creative boundaries to redefine how the world views threatened marine species, and to inspire the global community to act before we lose it all.
Up until now, the marine megafauna we have worked with in these shoots, including whale sharks, mantas, humpback whales, pilot whales, and dolphins are generally understood to be “safe” species to interact with. Yet, across the globe one family of marine creatures, sharks, are being devastated to the tune of over 100 million animals a year. Both Hannah and I are heavily engaged in shark conservation, and the knowledge that our creative projects have largely excluded “predatory” sharks has weighed heavily upon us. With the recent actions of the Australian government, we decided it was time we addressed this.
To pull this shoot off, Australian Hannah Fraser and I teamed up with Jim Abernethy, the world’s leading authority on interactions with large “predatory” sharks, and together we embarked on a dangerous mission, the likes of which has never before been attempted. Our objective – to present these magnificent creatures in a true and positive light by capturing iconic imagery of Hannah face-to-face with a massive 15 foot tiger shark, her hand resting gently on it’s massive head.
