ENTRY DESCRIPTION
México, Guerrero, Ixtapa. Black and White portrait of a loggerhead sea turtle and it´s reflection while floating in the surface at open ocean some 10 miles off shore.

AUTHOR
CHRISTIAN VIZL was born in México City in 1972. Has a degree in Business Administration, was formed as a Diving Instructor, Cave Diver, Rafting Guide, and Sailor. Was a member of CEDAM, a Mexican organization devoted to marine arquaeology. Lived for a year in Germany (1993) a year in Akumal, southeast México (1997) and a year in Australia (1998). He has been an enthusiast photographer since he was 15 years old, but it´s since 2010 when he starts with underwater photography and with a more professional approach.
Every since I was a kid, as far as I can remember, I was attracted to the sea. I dream about what lie beneath the waves. I imagine what would it looked like if suddenly all the water would disappear for a while, but all the animals and living creatures would remain at the same place they where, so I could then take a walk inside the ocean and see them all, suspended for a moment in time and space.
I still have that same dream, and I am very grateful that now I am able to live it every time I go down to the sea. I see my pictures, and realize they are the result of that childhood dream…beautiful and incredible marine life suspended in their natural environment and capture in a brief moment of time. They are my way of seeing this dream, how I perceive it and how being underwater in this magical world, in the presence of the marine environment makes me feel. It has been a fantastic journey of exploration and discovery, both outside and inside me, which I hope to keep doing for the rest of my life.
Photography is all about light, and in my opinion, it is the single most important aspect when it comes to creating appealing, inspiring and touching images. In my point of view, far beyond technical issues, what´s most important is how I apply and manipulate the light that´s available in order to create pictures with dramatic effect, carrying depths of emotion and using contrast and tonalities as means to emphasize form and structure of the scenery. I focus on the emotional impact of the final shot that will connect on a deeper level, with the people that observe these photographs. Just as a poet uses words to create poetry, a photographer uses light to create images. So when I’m underwater taking pictures, one of my goals is to create poetic images through the use of light.

I try to capture sublime moments of the marine environment, the essence of being there, in that experience and in the presence of that particular animal, capturing their splendor and soul. It´s sheer beauty and poetry with images that inspire, make us vibrate through the beauty in every corner of the ocean, an epic sight that make us dream of a better world, where we value and care for all expressions of life.

Because beyond the issue of our survival is the issue of how we experience our life and how we celebrate it. And our experience of life is intrinsically linked to how we communicate and bond with everything around us, especially with all life around us. In my case, it’s the ocean and their living creatures that make me want to celebrate. So my photography is intended to be a celebration of marine life and the underwater world.

editorial credits
Published photographer in various magazines and newspapers, such as National Geographic Blue Hope Book, Ocean Geographic, Scuba Diving, Sport Diver, Asian Diver, Scuba Diving and the Undersea Journal, Alert Diver, Scuba Diver Through The Lens, Dive Photo Guide, Plongee, Tauchen, Apnea, Hotbook, México Desconocido, The Times (UK), Daily Mail (UK), and others.
Photographer in Residence, Ocean Geographic Magazine www.ogsociety.org
Field editor at Scuba Diver Australasia and Asian Diver www.uw3some.com

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