Shawn Heinrichs
Being at the heart of the action is a common enough impulse for a photographer. But in Shawn Heinrichs’ case, that ‘action’ can mean anything from dancing with manta rays or swimming with sharks to making friends with humpback whales, as he travels the world’s most colourful and life-filled oceans with his camera. He calls himself “an experiential photographer” and works by creating relationships with creatures under the water, rather than photographing them from a distance, to produce more original and creative images.
Shawn is an underwater photographer and Emmy award-winning cinematographer with a mission: to help protect our oceans and their inhabitants. He has campaigned on urgent issues, such as the shark fin industry, and helped to establish protected reserves and environmentally friendly practices in underwater regions from Mexico to Indonesia. He uses photography and video to get an emotional response from viewers, with the aim of inspiring action.
Where did your love of the ocean originally come from?
I was born in South Africa, on the Wild Coast off Durban, so my experience with the ocean as a child was the sardine run along the coast with billions of sardines pouring onto the beach and fisherman scooping them with buckets, while thousands of sharks and dolphins gave chase and humpback whales filled the background.
Later in life, after I moved to the United States and re-joined the ocean with scuba diving, I
