Peter B does London

I don't want to brag -but i'm gonna. I have some of the most extraordinary friends: philosophers, gardeners, world champions, DJ's, builders, bee keepers and rock stars. One such rock star, Swedish tallest a cappella singer Peter B, came to visit, and we had the kind of debauched week you'd expect from such a tour, which was entirely Freudian



He was here to enjoy the season, but screw springtime



Rock stars like him like getting high



and doing lines





lots of lines, to the point of exhaustion

and some problems unmentionable, resulting in a quick dash to the clinic

so we ended the trip resting in the country with some groupies



and soaking in some culture from lesser rock gods



Next time i'm going on tour with him i'm packing an underwear-proof umbrella.

back in 60 seconds version 2

Here's a different edit of a video i posted earlier . This was my initial edit, and i quite liked it, but we were never sure about which music should go with the video. Then William thought of 'Flight of the Bumblebee' and that was so refreshing and non-traditional, that we went with that song. But last week i was going over some old stuff and came across this version, and figured it was fun enough to publish.

standing in mid air

It's a bit of a theme this week how some work seems to wait for context before it can be published. In this case, i have a collection of portraits of women underwater, and because i love the contrast of normal clothes out of the ordinary environment, i always like to photograph people with their regular clothes on, instead of wetsuits. Wetsuits do look good underwater, but they also make everyone look the same. Plus it is a challenge for me as an underwater photographer to get the skin tone right; when you get it right, nothing looks better than that refracted light on skin. So now i'm building up this collection but other than the theme of women in regular clothing underwater, i haven't got the final element yet.

That is, until i hear the song 'Mid air' by Paul Buchanan. He used to be the lead singer of a band called the Blue Nile and they had a song 'Let's go out tonight' which was remixed by Craig Armstrong and then used in the series 'Six feet under' etc etc, in any case, when a new album by him is coming i check it out immediately -he's got a great voice. And this song instantly invites me to see women, underwater.

I love editing to music, it gives such rich context and almost obvious structure, and i get slightly obsessive with songs anyway, so i listen to them incessantly, which is what you need to do when editing. The song fit the images, or the other way around, in any case, after a lot of clicking it clicked. Hope you enjoy as much as i did the process of making it with all these fantastic women. For best effect, please watch in HD.

two videos from the Great Northern

Last month i was at the Great Northern comp in Liverpool, as the UW photographer. I also shot two videos there, of my friends Eric van Riet Paap (Mr Van) and Mateusz Malina (Mr Mat Malina Mr Mad Mat Malina). Both videos ended up being edited by someone else, in Mr Van's case by Mr Van, and in Mat's case by the organizer of the event, and i like both videos a lot. What i like most about these collaborations is that they end up in a completely different way than what i would have done, and i like this difference.

Here is Mr Van's dynamic -i was very happy to see him turn at 150 and keep going:



And here's Mat's effort -he has the record for longest dive recorded, i think it was a 4:45 to 100 something in Free Immersion, so i knew he was going to take his time, and lord in speedo's did he ever:



And here are my photo's:

back in 60 seconds

William Trubridge diving to 60 meters and back in 60 seconds



and the interview

William Trubridge's secret admirer

No, it's not me -i'm quite open about it. And it's funny to see on this island, when people come to the Blue Hole, they tend to know about William Trubridge and they're quite vocal about their admiration too. But i've noticed something not everyone can see, and maybe even Billy does not know: every day, when he plunges into unbelievable depths



and swims back up again



his moves are followed by one of the tarpon, who even after he's reached the surface, keeps staring up at him adoringly

William and the whole hole

On a clear day, you can see forever -and William Trubridge, and the whole Blue Hole

Suunto Vertical Blue

Some pictures of this year's Suunto Vertical Blue, where i was the commentator together with the lovely and formidable Francesca Koe. Luckily for me, main photographer Igor Liberti not only very kindly let me share the territory, he also introduced me to this wonderful tune:

an old friend

Shook hands with an old friend last week



I played when i was a kid, so much so that i ended up injuring myself. Kept playing with the injury, got worse, in the end it required surgery and i had to give it up. Broke my heart, as well as my knees.

But i never got over the feel and sound of a 'nothing but net', when you shoot and the ball goes in perfectly, not even hitting the ring, making the net go 'swoosh'. It is the sound of truth, that is.

I've made visits to my old friend in the past, always taking care not to get too excited, not to expect too much, keep in mind that, though our friendship is only just mature, my knees are pensioners. I always forgot and ended up limping. Last week, it seemed i was finally mature enough to be a pensioner -i walked away, rather than limped. I came back a few days later, shot a few, missed a lot, got some, got 2  swooshes in a row, and it made my day. Swoosh, and walk away. I'd love to dunk again but i'm too old for that shit.

Of course, Leonard Cohen said it better: "I ache in the places where i used to play." Love, even rusty, tends to be worth the pain, though.

PS i love this version of the song:

George dreams of pools

Gary Floatus on Viewbug

I've entered this picture of Gary the Rockstar doing a floatus on Viewbug



It can win me one of them interesting light field camera thingies, for which they don't have underwater housing yet but could be fun anyway. So if you have a moment, please do click below and 'like' the hell out of the pic:

Depth Photo Contest

Chepstow man and the UK freedive team

Right after becoming an international movie star -or extra on an indie series of shorts, depending on whether you want to be realistic about it- i was happy to be back behind the camera, this time to photograph the British Freediving Team as they warmed up for the World Championship in Nice by freezing their butts off in the beautiful but arctic blue green of Chepstow



where the upside down man oversees his domain



to have the lovely view of George going down



and Liv Liv coming up



i figure he must have a good job, hanging under that platform, seeing all kinds of freedivers doing all kinds of things





in all kinds of light





plus he gets lots of love

the many faces of Nat

Meet Natalie, part freediver



part ninja



part fish



part monkey



part dancer



part space oddity



part barracuda charmer



part inverse torpedo



all free

at play in the empire of light

Back in the empire of light, where the fish rule



after the goddess created them



lots of them



 to play with



because play is important for light



and being light is important for play



so we might need more air than the fish



and we might have something to do with sea-levels rising



but at least we're very good at cheating during tight-rope walking

zip up

Photo by Georgina Miller

safety freediver course

Stavros Kastrinakis, Liv Philip and i organized a safety freediver course this weekend in London. It is a new course, based on our experience as safety divers, and this was its first outing. It was a great success, in that we had a nice group of people (and Gary)



we managed to convey some technical aspects, like a good grip on an athlete (or how to shut up Liv)





let the students perform tons of rescues









did rescue breaths -some professional



some less so



but what was most impressive was that i was repeatedly rescued by a girl half my size (literally) -while i was wearing 5 kilos of lead and fully exhaled. Massive respect for Becky, who has only been diving for a very short time.



She proves that being a safety diver expands your freediving -it shows you how much more you're capable of.

Plus, also the mark of success, we had fun



and we had beauty



PS if i seemed harsh on Gary earlier, it's only cos i is well jealous he is so pretty, innit



he also took some of the pics here. Surprising, for this is what usually happens when you give him a camera