Oceanographic Magazine (OM): How did you become a wildlife photographer? Has this always been your dream job?

Graeme Green (GG): I’ve been taking photos for more than 30 years. I started out shooting mainly black and white film, walking around, photographing things I found interesting. When I started working as a journalist, I’d travel to places around the world to report on stories. Primarily, I was there to write but I had my camera with me and would take photos too. One of the early stories I worked on was about vultures in Nepal and India which were dying at a rapid pace. There was a drug called diclofenac being used by vets and farmers. The vultures were ingesting this drug when they fed on corpses, and it was killing them in large numbers.

Over the years, photography became more important to my work and I started to work on both words and images to tell a story. The more time I spent with wildlife, the more I wanted to dedicate time to wildlife photography.

OM: What do you try to achieve with your images?

GG: Wildlife is remarkable, so I want to create images that do the animals justice. I’ve never been keen on the idea of seeing what another photographer does and trying to recreate it. So I try to think creatively and take an image that is beautiful and original, whether it’s setting the animal within its environment, or getting right up-close for a portrait or a detail, like an eye or the textures of skin. You can’t really photograph wildlife these days without realising what a serious situation animals all over the world are facing in terms of numbers declining and the threat of extinction. Ultimately, I want people to be drawn into the images and to hopefully get more involved with what’s going on in the natural world.

OM: Your most memorable wildlife encounter to date?

GG: There are so many. I’ve witnessed a leopard hunting from a tree, pouncing from the high branches onto an impala which is extremely rare behaviour. But I’m more interested in quieter, less dramatic moments. In The New Big 5 book, there’s a photo of mine of an elephant reaching up to high branches of a baobab tree in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. I spent a lot of time watching that elephant. There were no other people or elephants around, just me and the local guides. I experienced a feeling stillness and peace as this incredible animal went about its daily life.

Last year, I photographed mountain gorillas in Rwanda, my second time photographing gorillas. It’s an incredible feeling to be up-close with the powerful silverbacks and their families. I haven’t yet had much opportunity to take photos underwater, but I’m a scuba diver and freediver. Some of the most incredible encounters have been with marine creatures. I’ve had a beautiful silver thresher shark swim right past my head in the Philippines. I’ve been in the water with large nurse sharks and lemon sharks in Belize, and not too long ago a giant manta ray in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Spending time with a manta ray is like something from an alien world. It’s unforgettable.