During Surface Interval, Scuba News, Surface Interval, Underwater Photography

Underwater photography - fairy-tale waters of Scotland

Janeanne Gilchrist likes to hunt for good light and an interesting frame. When the water turns bottle green and grey, she visits the sea with camera in hand. She is fascinated by movement – the gentle rippling of submerged structures, underwater life and still life. Her world, as if taken straight out of an island

ByGosia Harasimowicz

Published: December 1, 2017 - 16:15

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 15:56

Underwater photography – fairy-tale waters of Scotland

Janeanne Gilchrist likes to hunt for good light and an interesting frame. When the water turns bottle green and grey, she visits the sea with camera in hand. She is fascinated by movement – the gentle rippling of submerged structures, underwater life and still life. Her world, as if taken straight out of an island legend, allows those who have never dived to share in the underwater silence for a while.

Edinburgh-based freediver Janeanne Gilchrist used to simply take photos to please. She is a professional photographer with a degree from Napier University. A few years ago she retired from commercial work to focus on nature photography and getting to know the underwater world better.

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With her works, she wants to draw the attention of her audience to things that they happen to overlook in their everyday lives and in their observations of their surroundings. In the ‘Lost Ghost’ project, she chose plastic packaging found during a dive as her subject and immortalised its seemingly peaceful coexistence with the marine environment in her photographs. However, she is not an environmental activist or a mystical artist – she is a diving enthusiast who wants to share a piece of the underwater world with her audience.

The artist believes that anyone can try scuba diving. She is interested in the phenomenon of the common fear of holding one’s breath and diving into the water – she wonders how much of this fear stems from our culture where, according to stories heard as children, the underwater world is inhabited by strange and dangerous creatures. Janeanne finds these creatures, tames them and mercilessly locks them in the frame – revealed, they are no longer threatening. In doing so, she demonstrates the beauty of the sea “spooks” and the entire submerged universe. And she finds the “spooks” in different ways – some from sea grass, jellyfish parasites, but also from used packaging or other trash from land.

Janeanne Gilchrist would like to show the underwater world to people who never planned to see it. A multiple award-winner in photography competitions, she also shares her work on Instagram and her author page. You can see her photographs live at the Ferguson Gallery in Perth until March 2018.

Source: stv.tv, Photo: Janeanne Gilchrist

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