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Flatworm swimming amongst plankton

Date1953-2000

Object numberANMS1467[918]

NamePhotographic slide

MediumColour transparency film

DimensionsOverall (inc carrier): 50 × 50 mm

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

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. This archive features photography of corals in the Great Barrier Reef and in Indonesia. Many of the images are close ups, and are largely documented with names and annotations, offering revealing facts on species such as the Gorganian soft coral. The images taken at the Great Barrier Reef are a valuable visual record of a reef that is rapidly deteriorating in condition to this day. The Taylor's have recieved great acclaim for their wildlife photography, in 1997 Valerie winning the American Nature photographer of the Year for her photograph of a whale shark swimming with a boy in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia.SignificanceThe simplest definition of macro photography is taking a picture of something so that it appears larger than it is in real life. This technique reveals the tiny hidden wonders of our world. In the early 1970s, Ron made Valerie the first known macrophotography set up for an underwater camera, with extension tubes and framers. Her stunning close-up shots of Great Barrier Reef corals were the cover story for the June 1973 issue of National Geographic. With this setup, Valerie was able to take some of the first high quality macro photographs of very small creatures, like the plankton seen in this archive.