Slides from Ron and Valerie Taylor's photographic collection relating to sharks, mesh suit development, artworks and Antarctica

Photographer Valerie Taylor (born 1935)

Photographer Ron Taylor (1934 - 2012)

Subject or historical figure Valerie Taylor (born 1935)

Subject or historical figure Ron Taylor (1934 - 2012)

Date1953-1980

Object numberANMS1458

NameArchive series

MediumColour transparency film, paper, plastic

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Valerie Taylor in memory of Ron Taylor

Terms

slides (photographs)

DescriptionThis photographic collection represents the career of filmmakers and ocean conservationists Valerie Taylor AM (born 1935) and her late husband Ron Taylor AM (1934-2012). The couple pioneered skin-diving, scuba diving and underwater photography and cinematography in Australia. Valerie was national spear fishing champion for three years in the 1960s, Ron for four years, however the couple soon stopped fishing and shifted focus to shark research, photography and film. They made chain mail diving suits to film sharks and became strong advocates for shark preservation. Ron and Valerie Taylor were committed to the documentation of a vast array of underwater wildlife. Through this archive a unique range of smaller creatures, such as ascidians, anemones, jellyfish, algae, starfish, plankton are shown. A variety of cephalopods are also depicted. In 1997 Valerie won the American Nature photographer of the Year for her photograph of a whale shark swimming with a boy in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia. This archive features an impressive series of photographs of Valerie swimming with whale sharks off the coast of Western Australia.