One is an award-winning marine photographer, the other an ecological artist who traces the DNA of teak furniture. They have harnessed their artistic passions to the desire to get people to care more for Gaia
alicia wong Today Online 1 Apr 12;
They were scuba diving in Indonesia when they came across a fishing net, illegally placed at the marine sanctuary. Caught inside was a struggling turtle. Moved to act, Mr Aaron Wong and his companions cut the net and freed the turtle, which would otherwise have drowned.
The turtle might have been grateful, but the fishermen who lost their net were not.
Come evening, one fisherman steered his small boat alongside the divers' vessel and confronted them, waving a machete. Both sides shouted heatedly. The fisherman finally left when the divers threatened to call the coast guard and offered a small compensation.
Recounting the incident, Mr Wong said that while he sympathises with the plight of these fishermen, he also believes there can be "sustainability in everything we do".
The 35-year-old was speaking to Today ahead of the launch of his new marine fine art photography book, The Blue Within, this month. His first book, Water.Colors, was released last year.
"It aims to highlight the beauty of our blue planet and why we need to protect it," said the Singaporean photographer, who has combined his twin passions of diving and photography to produce numerous award-winning shots.
His images have won several international honours, including the BBC wildlife photographer award, and have been displayed in the Natural History Museum in London. His work has also been published in dive publications such as Scuba Diving (USA), Asian Geographic, Underwater Photography and Scuba Diver AustralAsia, where he contributes as a field editor.
EYE TO EYE WITH GENTLE PREDATOR
Mr Wong's marine love affair budded when he was only nine or 10, accompanying his father on fishing trips. He started scuba diving soon after.
The seasoned diver is passionate about saving the world's oceans and, with sharks playing a "phenomenal role in the entire eco-system of the ocean", shark-finning is an issue he is most concerned about.
"Most people are very well informed, but they still choose to consume shark's fin because they don't feel it's their problem," believes Mr Wong, a Singapore ambassador of Shark Savers, a Hong Kong-based non-profit organisation currently campaigning for Singapore to be shark fin-free by next year.
Mr Wong talks about sharks with reverence. Describing them as the "apex predator", he recalls the "zen-like moment while diving when everything slows down" as he goes "eyeball to eyeball" with a shark. In spite of its predator's strength, it is almost "gentle" as it swims past you, as wary of you as you are of it, he says - criticising the Discovery Channel's Shark Week programme for perpetuating shark-phobia by portraying them mainly as ferocious creatures.
PAINTING WITH LIGHT
Pursuing his other passion, photography, did not come easy. Fresh out of the army, he had wanted to take a course in film, sound and video but, as an N-levels graduate with no O-levels, he was not eligible. So instead he toiled hard as a photographer's assistant, making S$800 a month.
He worked as a commercial photographer in advertising and fashion for several years, then opened his first photography studio, and later joined production house Hanchew Studios as chief photographer before moving on to freelance work.
Ten years ago, feeling burned out, he ventured into underwater photography and found "a new lease of life". But winning recognition for his style of "creative interpretations of nature" was tough.
Describing himself as an emotionally-driven "bohemian", he referenced the surreal oil paintings of marine life artist Robert Wyland, whose works have helped raise awareness of the conservation agenda. "As a photographer, in every way, you are an artist. He paints with oil, you paint with light. Instead of shooting very documentary-style pictures ... I started taking a lot of pictures like that (abstract wildlife)."
At first, no one appeared to appreciate his style. A photograph he submitted to regional underwater competitions did not even get into the semi-finals. "You start to realise, maybe your perception of 'nice' is very far from the general public's."
Later he wondered if it was because the Asian audience was just "not mature enough", so in 2008 he sent the same photo to the BBC's wildlife photography competition - and it won in the animal portrait category.
"So I continued shooting all these weird, different shots. And I started to develop this style which I call dark light" - where a well-lit subject is placed against a dark background - and, since then, he added, this style has been "all the hype".
"From then on, I basically won every award I could think of," he stated matter-of-factly.
FROM GALAPAGOS TO ANTARCTICA
Over the last three years, Mr Wong has been travelling monthly, invited by dive operators and tourism boards to talk about his experiences. He dives at least once a month and counts Indonesia among his favourite spots.
One of his most challenging experiences was a recent trip to World Natural Heritage site Shiretoko in Hokkaido. It is the only place in Asia where divers can dive under ice. There, Mr Wong and famous Japanese free diver Ai Futaki, a Guinness World Records holder, dived at -5°C.
"It's scary, ice as far as your eyes can see," he admitted. "Moments like this, you feel good just to be alive."
He intends to dive at the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador come October, and in Antarctica next year.
His latest 150-page photography book, with a 1,000-word foreword written by renowned underwater photographer David Doubilet, contains images taken on his adventures over the last decade. The book (retail price US$60 or S$75) will be launched at the Asia Dive Expo, which runs from April 13 to 15 at Marina Bay Sands, along with a photo gallery of his work.
