British ocean explorer, visual artist and award-winning wildlife photographer and conservation photojournalist Francesca Page has been selected to be Oceanographic Magazine’s third Storyteller in Residence.

Storyteller in Residence is an annual position which provides an opportunity for one photojournalist to tell the ocean stories important to them over a 12-month period. The £45,000 fund is hosted by Oceanographic, Arksen and 10% for the Ocean.

Page believes that art has the power to save our planet, and will be utilising her photography, film, writing and digital illustration skills to bring the stories she is telling to life. 

“The ocean needs storytellers more than ever before and this is definitely not just an incredible opportunity but it’s a responsibility to tell those stories,” she said. 

And for Page, the focus of these stories is to spotlight overlooked and misunderstood corners and creatures of the ocean. Alongside showcasing the ocean’s bountiful beauty, Page believes it is increasingly important to highlight the destruction it is facing – and to capture the human stories on working on the frontline to combat it.

“They’re the people that are doing this day in, day out, I’m just there for a period of time to capture their story,” she said, “That’s something I find incredibly impressive and which gives me a huge amount of hope: people risking their lives, giving their time and dedicating themselves to protect a habitat, a species, a community.”

She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with her in capturing these stories, having worked with organisations like Netflix, Sea Shepherd, Blue Marine Foundation, and having been recognised by the likes of National Geographic UK, British Photographer of the Year and Oceanographic’s very own Ocean Photographer of the Year. 

The key to telling these stories effectively, Page said, was conveying that emotion you are experiencing while out in the field, and injecting that into the image and story she is telling.

Looking towards the year ahead, Page said: “I hope to also create beautiful images, but I also hope to create these images that make people stop in their tracks, inspire curiosity, make people start a conversation.” 

“If I can create impact by reaching a large, large audience of people, if I can create more funding, if I can change policy impact, change mindsets, that’s for me the goal,” she added.

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