livebooks blog

Few destinations make me voluntarily get my bags ready and happily embark on a forty to forty-five hours flight mission with all the hassle and sleep deprivation it entails. Among those, some selective and still relatively unexplored dive areas remain, promising enthralling marine environments of a certain kind that cannot be found close to my home town of Half Moon Bay CA. Raja Ampat in Indonesia was one of these irresistible places to dive and photograph before its present-day remoteness, to some degree shielding it from the risk of environmental degradation, perhaps turns less inaccessible to more people. Simply put, I wanted to go there before it changes.

Raja Ampat diving is all about the small creatures and critters, the abundance of fish life, and most certainly its diversity of soft and hard corals. A marine biologist’s dream no doubt. This environment in many ways is the polar opposite of one of my other favorite escapes Cocos Island; the Island of the Sharks with its ferocious currents and large pelagic fish life which I wrote about recently on this blog.

Photo courtesy of Li Westerlund

Photo courtesy of Li Westerlund

Though I love capturing the action of large pelagic marine life, I also think that macro expressions below the surface captured as photographic images are somewhat overlooked. With exquisite anemone species, the intriguing solar powered nudibranch and peculiar orangutan crab, a walking shark at night (or more like running when we spotted him), pygmy seahorses almost indistinguishable from their surroundings, and an explosion of color in soft corals and the magnificent hard coral, there was so much to explore. And I loved every bit of it.

Photo courtesy of Li Westerlund

Photo courtesy of Li Westerlund

Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago of about 15,000 square miles, comprising over fifteen hundred small islands and cays surrounding the four larger islands from Waigeo in the north to Batanta, Salawati and Misool in the south. Instead of heading north as planned, we headed south towards Misool because of a typhoon over the Philippines stirring up the water. Though December is the monsoon season, we were lucky with sunshine and the calmest water I have experienced over the years living on dive boats for several days taking these types of trips. Nonetheless, the visibility was only fair at times and for macro captures the currents complicated matters when using the macro lens at its edge.

This time I experimented with lighting and focused on macro expressions. I wanted to capture the beauty I see in the marine life, the splendor which is surely there but perhaps only perceptible when you look closely. There is an intimacy so tangible in this environment, one that you can truly feel when you are down below if you take the time to appreciate and interact with what surrounds you. The trick is to focus on what you “see” and not merely on what it “is” directly appearing in front of you. In an endeavor to express the feeling I wanted to convey, I also used the depth of field differently from how I have previously captured the macro life.

Photo courtesy of Li Westerlund

I believe that people generally tend to care about what they see and what they can relate to. It is my hope therefore that images not focusing merely on epic wildlife encounters, including what to many would be experienced as scary imagery of large pelagic sharks for example, will spark an interest in the marine environment among people not otherwise aware of its wonders. Find my series “Amphimone” “Eudora” and “Amatheia” captured during this trip at www.lifethrills.com.

Tell us about your book Infinite Worlds: the People and Places of Space Exploration?

Published by Simon & Schuster, Infinite Worlds: the People and Places of Space Exploration, is a coffee-table designed photography book of an historic era in the human and robotic exploration of space involving the Hubble Space Telescope.

Cover of Infinite Worlds Photo by ©michael soluri/Infinite Worlds

In the annals of these kinds of books and American spaceflight, no photographer has ever been extended the degree of quality access into three NASA flight centers for nearly three years to reveal a portrayal of the astronaut crew that essentially saved the Hubble Space Telescope.

In addition to a Foreword by former Senator and legendary astronaut John Glenn, 18 unscripted self-written essays from the Hubble labor force and crew weave a narrative where I seek the humanity in both the human and robotic exploration of space.

How did you come to work in the field of space exploration photography?

I am a fine art documentary and portrait photographer whose interest is the human and robotic exploration of space.

I studied to be a planetary geologist but discovered that I was more interested in the visual qualities of the field rather than impersonal chemistry labs and calculus classes! Once I earned my MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in photography I became an editorial fashion and documentary travel photographer.  I worked in Brazil, Italy and New York.   Over the years I collected, edited and studied decades of space-themed images for my own interest and for various publications, and that led me to more substantive portrait and documentary work on American space exploration.

©michael soluri/Infinite Worlds

In 2004 I photo-edited and co-authored What’s Out There – a visually themed index on astronomical phenomena – and I even got Stephen Hawking to write the Foreword.  While working on documenting the people and places of NASA’s New Horizons mission to the Pluto system in 2005, I discovered that the servicing mission to the Hubble would be reinstated.

Ultimately, Infinite Worlds evolved out of these chance occurrences. History was unfolding and I wanted to discover the meaning and art in human and robotic spaceflight.

How and why did you begin documenting the effort of those prepping for the last Hubble servicing mission?

I didn’t begin this project with a book in mind. It began as an editorial story for Discover magazine that started with an unprecedented three-hour portrait session of the STS125 shuttle crew.  From that I earned the trust of the crew as well as the NASA engineers and scientists who were creating, training and managing this multi-year mission to save the Hubble.

As a photographer what inspires you?

I would point to Kubrick’s “2001, a Space Odyssey” as a transcendent life experience.  My inspiration for Infinite Worlds was a product of many interests (films, short stories, music, history of art and photography, science) and a personality driven to always want to be behind the scenes.

As a photographer, my early influences continue to be my inspiration: the works of Cartier-Bresson, August Sander, Aaron Siskind, Walker Evans and Irving Penn.

©michael soluri/Infinite Worlds

What did you find to be most challenging about putting together a book of this nature?

The time, patience and discipline to know why I wanted to tell this story, as well as being able to edit 3 years worth of work into a visually coherent narrative.

How did you compile the essays? Why did you decide to include them?

The notion for stories written by various individuals in the shuttle and Hubble labor force was influenced by Working, a remarkable book written in 1972 by the Chicago based broadcaster Studs Terkel.  He wrote about people talking about their work and how they felt about doing it, an approach that felt like verbal snapshots.  As I got to know the people behind the STS125 mission better I would often find myself in a discussion with one of the crew and support staff.   I loved hearing them speak about their work in an unscripted way.

During the subsequent months when I was beginning the daunting task of editing years of photographs, the notion of individuals from the labor force writing their own story became a significant element in planning Infinite World’s narrative.  The 18 story-tellers recalled many common memories and had many individual stores, but the common thread was the need to make a contribution to an end result larger than themselves.

Photo by ©michael soluri/Infinite Worlds

Based on your experience please describe what goes into getting a book published? 

Tenacity is crucial. Although I had a project based on exclusive access, I needed to know my story and that took about two years to develop. I also needed a marketing plan – to identify my audience and what my plan would be for exhibitions and magazine articles. A New York-based literary agent was critical to having the contacts at the various publishing houses. My initial proposals were ultimately shot down.

This caused me to look at myself and think about how I could tell this story in a more compelling way.  Seeing Hertzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” — a documentary film about the oldest human-painted images in the Chauvet Cave of France, as well as my documentation of the space shuttle’s flame trench beneath its launch pad, helped to reveal the narrative sub-text: time, distance and light.

About a year and a half later Simon & Schuster made an offer. Creating the book took two years. It involved collaborating with the production department to achieve the quality we ultimately experience in Infinite Worlds. It also involved an enormous amount of work with my editor, the art department, copy editor and the marketing and promotion folks.

Realizing the mutual marketing benefits, photo industry support was critical. As a result, I am grateful for Canon, Moab Paper, Eizo, Chimera Lighting and liveBooks.

How has your website helped your business? How has it helped this project?

I chose liveBooks because I could have a custom designed site and a web hosting relationship responsive to my evolving communication needs.  I couldn’t be happier with the collaboration and the responses I receive from the print and electronic media, aerospace industry and art community.  Currently Infinite Worlds is my most visible project, so design flexibility to respond to the marketing of my book was essential and liveBooks provides that flexibility.

What other events are you doing in conjunction with the book release? 

There are many events that will provide varying degrees of visibility.  The holiday season and the run up to and through the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope in April 2015 will provide many public and exhibition venues.

My ten-year project portraying the people and places of NASA’s New Horizon’s Pluto mission will come to it’s crescendo beginning in spring 2015 when the probe passes within thousands of miles of Pluto and its moons. I’ll be there photographing the project scientists and flight controllers.

In addition I will be speaking at the IMAX theater at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on January 21st, the National Air & Space Museum on February 13th and the Smithsonian Institute on April 11th. Exhibitions of my work are currently at the Kennedy Space Center’s Atlantis pavilion, in Hubble @25 at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and in Outside the Spaceship: 50 years of Extra-Vehicular Activity.

Additional information on media and events may be found on my (liveBooks) custom designed website www.michaelsoluri.com.

There are many hidden wonders in the world still to explore even for the most adventurous. As a photographer and scuba diver with the love of remote dive-areas, my passport is filled with all kinds of destinations which makes immigration officers at the airports on my return raise their eyebrows. Places like Komodo, Alors and Northern Sulawesi in Indonesia, Papua Guinea and Sudan’s Red Sea waters to mention a few. One of my absolute favourite escapes is located about 35-40 hours of open water travel by boat off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Its name is Isla del Coco, or Cocos Island, at times referred to as the Island of the Sharks.

Whitetip on the lookout. Image courtesy of Li Westerlund.

The abundance of marine life surrounding Cocos island, which is the only emergent island of the relatively minor Cocos Plate, comes with some of the strongest currents you will encounter as a diver. Thus in many ways this marine preserve not only provides one of the most intensive adrenaline rushes but also some intriguing challenges for divers and underwater photographers.

Abundance of life. Image courtesy of Li Westerlund.

In August of this year I made my fifth trip, deliberately choosing the rainy season – and does it rain in Cocos Island! – with the hope of encountering enormous schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks that grace the pinnacles around the island. There may not be a real on or off season for encountering these sharks and we all have to remember that the sea gives you what the sea wants to give you, not what you desire when descending into its depth. My preferred time though is between July and September, which also coincides with the time of the year when in the past I’ve encountered the giant whale sharks. And for this year, my trip truly became the trip of whale sharks.

Whaleshark in the deep. Image courtesy of Li Westerlund.

Even though we saw scalloped hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, tiger sharks, whitetip reef sharks, yellowfin tuna, the enormous school of jack fish that is always present, bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales on the surface, the mantra “May the whale shark be with you” was forever coined among some of us. There are several destinations around the world known for whale shark encounters but most only permit encounters while snorkelling or scuba diving in fairly shallow waters, when they come closer in to feed on plankton. Yes, the biggest shark on the planet lives on the smallest plankton, which is quite incredible in the bigger scheme if you think about it.

Hammerhead in for cleaning. Image courtesy of Li Westerlund.

Compared to other encounters with whale sharks, what mesmerized me the most diving with them in Cocos was the thrill of mingling with them in the greater depth of the ocean and how gently, gracefully, they interacted with us divers. How they were curious and almost inquisitive, and not anxious or troubled by our presence. The monsoon rain pouring down over the island affected the visibility most times, making lighting quite challenging for photography but it also creating an opportunity to capture these magnificent creatures in the mysterious fashion they suddenly appear from the depth.

See more images from her trip in her series “Gentle Giants of the Deep” and “Galenaea” at www.lifethrills.com.

Kavira Kabambi, 15 year old survivor. Photographed by Sarah Fretwell.

The Truth Told Project

One girl or woman is raped every minute in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The rape is not random, as you might think. It is a power play that targets those who are not in a position to fight back. The rebel and military groups use rape as a scare tactic and way to control and destroy local communities. The DRC’s society is so broken rape is now “normalized.” Millions of girls, women and men have been raped. Many more will be raped in the time it takes you to read these few paragraphs. More »