Oceanographic: Henley, when did you first connect with the ocean?

Henley Spiers: “I didn’t grow up by the sea so my first ocean experiences would have been either whilst visiting my grandfather who lived on the coast of England or on holiday when I’d first be splashing about with my father and brother, then taking strange enjoyment in getting pummelled by the waves. I started snorkelling fairly young, probably when I was around 6 years old, and I remember loving the feeling of exploration which came with having eyes underwater. But in truth, it would have been very hard to predict during my childhood that my entire life would one day be devoted to the ocean.”

Oceanographic: How did you get into underwater photography?

Henley Spiers: “Pretty late as I had no interest in photography for the first 25 years or so of my life. When I was working as a dive instructor, I had a little compact camera to document some of the things we were doing in a very casual sense. I went to Lembeh in Indonesia and that was the first place where I became more aware of photography because everyone there had a big camera rig and was really focused on diving for photography. I started to feel a bit out of place with my small compact camera and so I rented a more serious setup with a strobe. We took that down on on a few dives and, wow – the colours that were suddenly popping out and the sharpness of the images,  it was a moment of revelation for me!

It was the first time I’d thought that photography is pretty cool. I invested in my own camera system and brought it to my next job which was in the Caribbean on the island of St. Lucia. And that’s how my photographic journey started.” 

Oceanographic: How would you describe your style of photography? 

Henley Spiers: “I think it’s evolved quite a bit over the years. Early on in my career, some people would describe me as a macro shooter because I was photographing more of the smaller things. Then I became really ‘turned on’ by this concept of fine art photography and quite minimalist, very clean compositions. And I found some success with that.

Today, I find myself evolved into something closer to documentary photography, but with a whisper of that fine art element. I’m working more with wider scenes, even as they relate to small things. That might change again, but right now I see my purpose in creating a picture which does justice to what I see underwater. That’s when I feel satisfied. If I experience something wonderful and I can create an image which is up to the level of that experience, then I feel good.”