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Shot of person in wetsuit vest with ocean in the background
Shot of person in wetsuit vest with ocean in the background

Shot of person in wetsuit vest with ocean in the background

Photographer (born 1935)
Date1953-2000
Object numberANMS1460[012]
NamePhotographic slide
MediumColour slide transparency
DimensionsOverall (inc carrier) 50 x 50 mm
Copyright© Valerie Taylor
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Valerie Taylor in memory of Ron Taylor
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 feaures photography of Blue and Sperm whales captured from a variety of unique close up angles and often with a diver in frame. It also has a profile on the Durban whaling station in South Africa, and the practices carried out in the dismembering of whales. 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.