Image Focus

Alexis has been documenting this migration since June 2023, under the title of The Great River of Life. “It’s a four-month expedition spread over two years, that I'm carrying out with 1 OCEAN and UNESCO”, he explains, “and it focuses on the greatest movement of biomass on the planet. Each year, hundreds of sharks and whales, tens of thousands of dolphins, hundreds of thousands of birds, move up the wild side of South Africa in pursuit of their quarry: billions of sardines. Our aim is to raise awareness of the threats to biodiversity using our technical skills in photography and filmmaking.”

It’s a task that’s testing, both physically and in terms of technique. “As you can see, Steven is escorted by two Cape gannet who look very mean, but really, they're just there to catch their lunch”, Alexis smiles, “but there are also lots of sharks and dolphins moving at incredible speed in the feeding frenzy. The diving conditions are difficult because of the strong currents, the numbers of animals and the frantic atmosphere. If you’re hit by a whale, you could be seriously hurt, so when we're underwater, we’re always vigilant, working in pairs and looking out for each other”.

“From a photographic point of view, it’s also tough”, he continues, “because all of that movement happens in very low light. And therefore, you have to increase ISO to get a shutter speed that’s fast enough to prevent blur. Here it’s ISO 1000 and 1/1000sec. Underwater photographers often add artificial light at times like this, but with all the activity, there's a lot of suspension in the water, so with a flash or an LED you’d just see a haze”.

“Shooting in manual, and sticking to a fast shutter speed, I control the exposure using the aperture”, he reports, “opening or closing it in relation to the amount of sun or the vertical inclination of the camera. If I'm moving downwards, I open the aperture to let more light in, otherwise I close it. In this image we’re not far from the surface, so an aperture of f/10 kept Steven and birds and bubbles in focus”.

It was important to keep deep focus, says Alexis, because Steven’s presence is a power narrative force in the image. “At that moment, he's there to bear witness to an exceptional phenomenon. We’re there to photograph and film so that messages can be conveyed, but always with respect and responsibility”.

“A photo like this,” he finishes, “is the result of diving ability, anticipation, technical skills and choosing the equipment. A few years ago, I wouldn't have been able to take this photo because the technology to shoot so cleanly at high ISOs or focus so precisely under water wasn't there. We need these images to spread the word of extinction risk. With cameras like the Sony Alpha 1, anything is possible”.