Kategorie: News
An interview with DAN Ambassador Pietro Formis
Pietro Formis is an award-winning underwater photographer and has been a DAN member since his very first dive. In an interview with Alert Diver, he talks about himself and his passion for the underwater world.
Report and interview by Claudio Di Manao / DAN Europe
Pietro Formis, born in 1978. Pietro Formis wants to inspire us to dream and whisk us away to the wonderland of the underwater world. And he succeeds: his photographs have been published in Oceanographic Magazine, Scuba Diver Australasia, EZDive, Naturphoto, Ocean Geographic, SUB and La Rivista della Natura, amongst others.
Pietro got his diving certificate at the age of 29 – “a bit late”, as he puts it. In fact, he’d always been diving, just without tanks. Immediately after his Open Water course, he joined DAN and soon discovered his passion for underwater photography. Within a few years, he worked his way up through the ranks in competitions and eventually won the title of Underwater Photographer of the Year with the book *Aqua*, co-authored with Emilio Mancuso.
He was also a finalist in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, the world’s most prestigious nature photography competition, organised by the Natural History Museum in London.
Pietro’s strengths lie in his remarkable artistic sensibility and his methodical study of marine habitats. Added to this is his ability to dream – and to bring those dreams to life with a rare, highly personal approach:
“I don’t take part in competitions and festivals just to gain recognition or media attention. I want to explore trends, discover new ideas and get to know truly interesting people.”
Pietro started diving as a child and went free-diving near his hometown of Levanto in Liguria (Italy).
“What was I looking for? Octopuses – the poor creatures! I can’t bring myself to eat them any more, but back then I was an octopus hunter. A poor one, fortunately; I rarely caught one.”
Then came scuba diving.
“My father signed up for a diving course, and I decided to join him. That’s how I became a diver. Straight after that, I joined DAN. It was clear to me from the very start that safety always comes first. I began travelling the world, became a divemaster and taught photography courses. DAN insurance is just as essential to my work as a camera.”
Pietro’s career is taking off. His photographs appear in leading diving magazines. As a finalist in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, he even received an invitation to a gala dinner beneath the famous whale skeleton at the Natural History Museum in London.
“An unforgettable experience – the atmosphere, the people, at the world’s most prestigious nature photography award. Another competition very close to my heart is the GDT – European Wildlife Photographer of the Year in Germany. There, images are selected that demonstrate an innovative perspective, as well as artistic or unusual photographic techniques.”
“Avanti tutta!”
Pietro teams up with Emilio Mancuso, an underwater photographer, marine biologist and science communicator. Together, they produce the award-winning book *Aqua*.
“We met through our shared passion and decided to offer combined courses in biology and photography as a team. I persuaded him to co-author my first book. Mancuso is a very good photographer, but above all an exceptional communicator. We complement each other perfectly. The ideas we’ve developed together are more than the sum of our individual contributions.
We’ve travelled together, taken part in clean-ups, removed ghost nets and rehabilitated seagrass beds. Our latest project is a documentary film entitled *Marine Animal Forest*. It highlights the importance of these habitats, which are little known but indispensable to life on Earth. Emilio has a motto that has become our guiding principle: ‘Avanti tutta’ (‘Full steam ahead’). A wonderful synergy has developed – and we have no intention of stopping.”
Photographers as environmental pests
In Thailand, beginners were banned from taking cameras on dives. What impact do photographers have on marine life?
“Whether we’re photographers or not – we can’t pretend we’re completely harmless. Some studies show that using a dive site for training beginners causes the most damage. I think we should avoid sensitive habitats until we’ve got our buoyancy and behaviour under control. In Italy, diving is on the decline, but in Asia it’s a different story: The number of divers is rising, and the sites are overcrowded with inexperienced divers who are also distracted by their cameras.”
What can experienced photographers do to minimise their impact?
“Follow the rules and scientific guidelines in protected areas and familiarise yourself with the species in question. Take video lights and strobes, for example: thresher sharks spend most of their time in deeper waters and are sensitive to bright light. Blue sharks, on the other hand, tend to stay in shallower, well-lit areas. They don’t seem to be bothered by strobes or video lights at all. If anything, blue sharks are rather curious.”
Safety
“Do you dive alone?” is a tricky question for any underwater photographer: “I’m very lucky to share this passion with my wife Ilaria, who is an excellent photographer. We dive together. Diving with another photographer isn’t the same as diving with a normal buddy – you’re focused on the camera and can’t pay as much attention to your partner. If necessary, I sometimes dive alone. Most of the time, though, there are people nearby – researchers or staff from the dive centre, for example.”
Storytelling for nature conservation
Pietro wants to tell stories through his photos. “Over time, science communication has become increasingly important to me. I try to combine aesthetics with documentation. I want to create images that you can hang on the wall as decoration, but which also tell a story.
For example, I went diving in the Po Delta, where mussel farming has been severely affected by the explosion in the blue crab population. The blue crab is an invasive species that threatens the balance of the entire Mediterranean. I documented this disaster in the northern Adriatic. I visited collection points to gather more in-depth information. Many people – including media commentators – point out that the blue crab is edible. Public awareness of the fact that it poses a problem is virtually non-existent – after all, you can simply catch and eat it!
But an ecosystem consisting solely of mussels and crabs is not healthy. Low biodiversity is like an open wound – the ecosystem has no defences. The solution lies in restoring the natural balance, and several projects are already working towards this.
In the Adriatic, I also collaborate with a seahorse rescue centre run by the Research Centre for the Protection of Habitats (CESTHA) in Ravenna. CESTHA has an agreement with local fishermen who occasionally find seahorses as by-catch in their nets. The fishermen take the seahorses to the rescue centre, where they are tagged with an elastomer visible under UV light before being released back into the wild. If a seahorse is caught again, this provides researchers with information on the species’ migration patterns and population density.”
Pietro has more to say about seahorses and the growth of diving – this time with a focus on Asia.
“In some pharmacies in Hong Kong, you can still find paracetamol and dried seahorses on the same shelf. But over time, perceptions of the sea as a habitat are changing. Scuba diving and diving magazines are doing a good job of raising awareness. Both the story about seahorses and the one about the blue crab were recently published in Chinese magazines. Publishers are keen to pass on calls for nature conservation to their readership.”
Final questions
Is there a particular type of diving or environment that you prefer?
“I like all forms of diving, but night diving is something special. You see things you don’t see during the day, such as lionfish swimming towards your torch. I enjoy swimming between rocks with a torch. The shadows shift, the scenery changes – especially amongst the coral pillars in the Red Sea. You can watch animals feeding.”
You organise trips and run photography courses. What advice would you give to a beginner?
“Get your buoyancy under control first. And don’t change your camera kit too often.”
Pietro Formis is an ambassador for Beuchat and Marelux, and of course DAN; he collaborates with Sony Italy on events relating to underwater photography and is a creative partner of EIZO, the world’s leading supplier of professional monitors for photography. Above all, however, he has been a member of DAN Europe since his very first dive.
Website: www.pietroformis.com
Original article by: Alert Diver (DAN Europe)