2004
Today I have really stepped through in who I’m trying to be. I love science, but I love showing people the beauty of the ocean more. People need to understand why ocean conservation is so important, so what better way to show people then pictures?? I’m going to start working for National Geographic. It is finally 2004 and time for me to take my career and passions to the next level.I spread my own pictures around and finally they got noticed. Maybe I can photograph sharks and really help people understand more about these beautiful creatures. I have always loved snorkeling since I was 6 years oldso this should be lots of fun for me as well. I’m hoping my pursuits are successful, and that I can show people what I see.
This all started when I started studying marine biology. Yes, I was a scientist that decided to become a photojournalist. Right now, pictures are huge in the newspapers. I’m hoping more technology will sprout so maybe people around the world can see my work. I have always loved photography and I loved studying marine biology. I have this goal in mind to do my part in ocean conservation through my scientific research. As a field biologist, I have this global perspective on conservation all the way from the coral reefs of northern Mozambique to the seagrass beds of Central America. I am a graduate and had previously done research on the impacts of South African abalone poaching It’s so sad that there is such a demand from people over this. I had discovered that the scientific data has decimated that abalone populations were not influencing protection measures. Yet, the photographs I took of the poaching and barren seascapes created a more visceral and immediate response from the public. In that moment, I just knew I could further my efforts in this conservation issue and made my photographs a better insight then statistics. Now I leave my scientific career for this nomadic life of a journalist.
I always had an immediate love for the ocean when I could first swim in it. I started snorkeling when I was 6 and then diving at 12. I remember the very first picture I took was with a bright yellow Minolta Weathermatic when I was only 12 years old. Then finally when I was 16 my parents got me a Nikonos V for my birthday and shaped my life forever. This helped shape me because I could finally take pictures of what I saw and inspired me. It opened up a whole new world for me that I experienced. The most vivid articles I can remember from being a kid were actually about sharks which helped inspire me to study more about them as well. I’ll never forget my most controversial image I ever took was in 2003 to be exact. It was a great white following me on a kayak. I had spent close to 10 months taking pictures for a book about great whites off the South African coast. Michael Scholl was them an I had worked with he is another scientist and discovered the large amounts of great whites close to the shore. He came up with this idea for a research project to observe all the sharks but our attempts had been hindered due to sharks wanting to go away from the boat engine electrical field. This was a disturbance to their natural behavior and I thought why don’t we kayak? It’s not intrusive and would be more welcoming for the sharks. I’m not going to lie it is a bit scary. Considering a shark follows you on a kayak one would tend to get nervous at first, but after a while it was so beautiful. Their behavior can be quite unpredictable but I needed to tell a story of the research efforts. Then I remember it happening the very first shark I got a shot of it from below. I trained my camera onto the dark shadow and it slowly transformed from a diffused shape into this sleek outline of an amazing great white shark. Then before I knew it the shark’s dorsal fin had broken the surface as I thought I had already gotten the shot, but then I had the biggest rewarding picture of all with a marine biologist in a kayak turning around to look at this massive shark. That was a powerful and controversial image due to the danger and lack of power within that situation.People actually thought the picture was fake can you believe it?
Photo By: Thomas Peschak
Image Source: https://www.thomaspeschak.com
The biases I face are that I obviously love ocean conservation, and not everybody cares as much as I do. When I publish my work it’s sometimes to show the dark things that go on in nature. While I create photos that can show the ugly I also try to show the beauty for others. People need to see the importance of what is going on, and try to trigger a way to want to do their part and help. I am bias about this help because no matter what I will be in the ocean discovering things about these different beautiful animals, and creating my own ways to help. In the general public conservation can be considered a pain. It can be short term compromise, change, and sacrifice. You have to be willing to change your lifestyle no matter how inconvenient and be motivated on your own.
Photo By: Thomas Peschak
Image Source: https://fstoppers.com/spotlight/photographing-great-whites-thomas-peschak-shoots-save-planet-7288
Photo By: Thomas Peschak
I think it’s funny because in some ways I relate to a biology college student all over again. I relate to the fresh learning of everything when I’m doing photojournalism. I love the adrenaline rush of finding something new. I love the way it feels when I’ve accomplished an extremely hard task. Sometimes I even spend hours and hours on a task and it makes me feel like I’m back in college all over again. I’m always being viewed as this ocean photojournalist and conservation photojournalist, but I’m not just doing this for the conservation. I do this as an everyday passion. I love the ocean either way, and find all of this fascinating. People like my work because I show what others can’t at times. The cruel truth of what’s happening in our oceans, and it’s time people pay closer attention and try to understand, and act.
Photo By: Thomas Peschak
Image Source:https://www.thomaspeschak.com/
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