Background Sketch:

Based in New York City, I have an academic and professional background in both fine and applied art. Most of my work has been in sculpture, in both direct metal and carved stone. When I merged photography with scuba diving over a dozen years ago, it swiftly became an equally compelling creative endeavor.

Having a sculptor's eye proved a valuable asset to extend into underwater photography. While diving, I can fuse my physical self into the very flux of 3D, as opposed to forming art into a separate world. Composition isn't initially sought within the viewfinder, it's revealed by constantly composing myself through interaction with the dynamic life that surrounds me.

The physics of diving also stresses that you've entered a unique universe that demands being completely in the present. All these states combine in seeking the photograph. An acute spatial awareness, as well as being while truly seeing, is essential in creating these images.

I'm also intensively engaged in activism to protect and restore the ocean. The emotive qualities I can instill with underwater imagery reflects my advocacy for people to take meaningful action for the sea and its inhabitants. A strong marine conservation ethos must be cultivated for the sake of the ocean's beings and a world that depends on their continuing existence.

~ Edward Dorson

Copyright for these articles and photographs belongs solely to Edward Dorson. Material may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the author/photographer.