shot by Grant Morris, @the_aqua_zulu

James Graham

photographer

If I were to summarise the greatest influence in my life in just one example, it would be the memory of my younger-self waiting impatiently, all week long, for the release of each new episode of the BBC’s Blue Planet (2001). I’d sit about one metre back from the telly and try to absorb every minute detail; from all the curious animal behaviours, to the ‘first time ever recorded’ encounters, and mind-bending cinematography to top it all off. I was completely and irreversibly hooked.

I relocated from London to Sydney in 2016, and try to fill my spare time exploring and photographing beneath the waves. If I am not in the water, you can find me scouring the internet for super-weird animal facts, planning where and how I can interact with them, or studying diving and photography material in order to learn as much as possible from experts in the field.

I am a certified RAID Divemaster, and have been Scuba Diving since 2014. I am currently spending the majority of my ‘bottom time’ exploring Sydney’s various reefs and sponge gardens, mostly at night.

Night diving is distinctly wild, interactive, and other-worldly. It gives me a special feeling of privilege to be able to share the water with such beautiful, inquisitive, and varied marine life, while all of the daytime critters are fast asleep. The darkness offers an additional sense of escapism, with no distractions wider than the beam of the torchlight.

I have been Freediving in some capacity since around 2011. Before I was aware that there was an official name for this sport, I was practicing breath-holds, equalising, and constant-weight training for depth.

I was lucky enough to work as a snorkel and reef guide in Tonga for the Humpback Whale season, 2014. This was my first taste of having unlimited access to the underwater world I had dreamed about when watching all those wildlife documentaries as a kid. But rather than sate my appetite, this opened my mind up to even more possibilities, and I continue to seek out even more amazing experiences.

My advice to anyone shooting underwater photography is to always expect the unexpected, and do not switch off until you’re back on terra firma! Anything can happen at any time, and those last few seconds in the water might be the ones to gift you with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It may be as simple as a change in colour tones, or a momentary beam of light pushing through the clouds, that transcends a photo into something more expressive and impactful.

James Graham
@withgraham
Based in Brisbane, Australia