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Doug
who? Mention this name amongst friends and watch the blank
looks and vague expressions return your expectant stare. Even
divers, some of whom carry a camera underwater (and, in theory,
should know better) scratch foreheads and mutter 'the name
sounds familiar" but fail to make any connection between
the name and some of the most eye catching and rewarding images
ever taken underwater.
Doug
is a rare breed, making a living taking photographs underwater,
Whilst most of us who carry a camera into the depths might
dream (or suffer the nightmare) of indulging in a career like
this, Doug is out there doing it on a daily basis earning
a crust taking images the world over provoking the reaction
every photographer craves - "Wow".
Whilst
the image may well be remembered, gracing, the living room
wall or spread across the pages of many a magazine, the tiny
acknowledgement of who took the picture is, almost without
exception, nearly always overlooked.
Sounds
glamorous, exciting and fun - right? On a cold and windy day,
when the weather had turned foul, I sat down with Doug to
find out if this life was all it appeared to be. After graduating
from the University of Hawaii the idea of being paid to dive
lured Doug to the Caribbean. Some dream. After putting in
a 12 hour day 6 days a week
Instructors
and Dive-masters were earning less than what it cost to live
in Grand
Cayman. The cost of living wasn't the only problem. Teaching
people to dive ceased to be a challenge after the second course,
and saving tourists from drowning started to wear thin, so
something was needed to keep Doug interested in the underwater
world.
In
an effort to boost a somewhat meagre income Doug added some
PADI specialities to his instructor ticket, one of which was
underwater photography, Figuring it was a good idea to understand
a little of the background before teaching it, Doug acquired
a Nikonos IM, standard 35mm lens, macro kit and a cheap strobe.
Photography had been pursued at high school, so the subject
was not entirely new to Doug, but the first three rolls of
underwater film came out black. Not an auspicious start to
a career, but the gauntlet had been thrown down.
As
the photography improved the macro lens started to reveal
an intricate, miniature world that Doug had never seen and
somewhat naively thought that no one else had seen either,
convinced that the pictures would automatically sell and be
featured in the following month's National Geographic. Not
quite, but the images caused a shift in Doug's approach to
diving, within twelve months retirement from the instructor's
scene was complete, with every dive now devoted to taking
pictures.
By
the early 80's Doug decided to return to university to study
fishery science to prepare for a career where he could actually
earn a living. The next five years were spent based on a sub-tropical
island in the Florida Keys working towards a Masters in Fish
biology. Doug spent one summer working for the government
departments dealing with fish stocks, quickly becoming disillusioned
with the process of churning through data, making recommendations
and then finding that political decisions, divorced from the
hard facts, set the fishing quotas. Other frustrations followed
- one of the maintenance workers at the university flushed
fresh water through the saltwater plumbing system, destroying
Doug's research with one turn of the tap.
This
was not the career Doug had envisaged, but a friend told him
what a great living he was earning with underwater photography,
taking and selling images. Doug somewhat naively believed
him, and three years later Doug turned in his first profit
for a year of trading - $25.
In
the world of freelance photography the most persistent person
who starts owing the least normally wins. With a cheap one-room
apartment under one of Miami's freeways, no family to support
and a rusty Honda for transport Doug owed nothing and was
in an ideal situation to start. When the fridge was empty
and the rent due next week, Doug would stop taking underwater
pictures and get temporary work, earn a few bucks and keep
a roof over his head. The articles and images Doug took and
managed to sell helped to pay of cameras and film, but the
real strength was the bank of images being amassed. After
a few years Doug could start to pick and choose the "regular"
employment, but it was five years of persistence and this
yo-yo lifestyle pitching between paid jobs here and there
and freelance photography before the latter supported Doug
completely.
This
glamorous lifestyle is not without risk. The trick with underwater
photography is to get close to the subject, and this includes
big predators. It was whilst trying to photograph a Caribbean
Reef Shark that Doug picked up his "shark bite"
scar. Not quite a "Rodney Fox", or even a "Tony
White" (when measuring the size of the bite mark) but
this particular shark had been agitated by some nearby spear
fishermen and took a dislike to having its photo taken. The
shark decided to get too close for comfort, and the only line
of defence was the Nikonos, which was sacrificed as the shark
lunged forward. One small bite mark on the hand, and a very
scarred camera with a broken viewfinder were the only casualties.
The hand healed, and the camera ended up being repaired and
offered as a prize in an underwater photography contest. Incidentally,
if you have the bitten Nikonos Doug would love to hear from
you.
You
might be fooled into thinking that Doug's work revolved around
larger animals; Humpbacks, Dugong, sharks and the like. Indeed,
a quick glance through a children's book about sharks (brought
home from school by my daughter) credited around 25% of the
images used within to "Doug Perrine/Seapics" which
reinforces that view. This was a misconception quickly corrected.
For example; Doug was the first person to document and record
the feeding habits of a tiny creature - The Vampire Snail.
This rather aptly named beast feeds at night by forcing the
snail equivalent of a hypodermic needle through the mucus
cocoon formed by sleeping fish and sucking out bodily fluids.
These days Doug admits that the eyes of a dive guide are needed
to help him pick out macro subjects, or to put it another
way larger creatures are easier to spot!
I
met boug at the Sardine Run in South Africa. For three years
Doug had been coming to photograph the sardines and the predator/prey
story that is played out as dolphin and shark gorge themselves
in a bait ball, but never quite got the images he felt the
subject deserved. A week before I arrived Doug had seen and
photographed a bait ball, but this year Doug chose to shoot
on digital instead of film. When shooting a bait ball the
action is hectic, and more often than not all 36 images on
a roll of film are used up in five minutes or less. Doug chooses
to dive with just one camera (rather than the 'Doubilet technique
of carrying many) so once the f ilm is used he would fin back
to the boat, de-kit, dry off, unload the used film and reload,
find the baitball, get back into the water and start shooting
again. This process would take around 45 minutes, but shooting
digital has changed the process completely. How about shooting
images until your air or adrenalin runs out? In one 45
minute dive Doug shot continuously, storing 250 individual
images in the camera's memory. Having been bumped by numerous
sharks and dolphin Doug ran out of air and adrenalin so returned
to the boat. With no need to change film Doug swapped tanks
and went back into the water to take another 150 images of
the action. Try doing that using a "traditional"
film camera!
So,
after twenty years in the business is Doug ready to retire
and stop taking pictures? While the rest of us sat down to
enjoy breakfast before the boats launched Doug would have
been up and out at sea and taking pictures. Success in photography
- topside or below - demands a high level of commitment and
having witnessed boug at work I think it is fair to say the
urge to tell a creature's story on film (or digital) is still
very much present in Doug. ' Doug freely admits that he "Has
yet to master underwater photography" and is still trying
to pick up that gauntlet.
Reproduced
from in
focus 77 (Winter 2003) |
