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South African photographer Chris Fallows grew to become keen on wildlife when he was a teenager and began taking images of marine life when he was a teen.
Best recognized for his images of nice white sharks and marine animals, that are captured with a fine-art aesthetic, Fallows was runner-up within the General – Black & White class of 2025’s Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) competitors.
His low-angle black-and-white shot of a herd of elephants in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park actually chimed with the ‘Power’ theme of the awards.
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Fallows’ breakthrough photograph was taken at sea, nonetheless, the place he spends most of his time.
‘Air Jaws’, an incredible white shark breaching the waves at South Africa’s Seal Island, was captured in 1996 and set him on the trail to world recognition.
He prizes a minimalistic feel and look, and the ensuing work lends itself to being displayed at scale – together with public areas like Times Square in New York City and Dubai International Airport.
Fallows sells massive prints of his photos, and invests the proceeds in conservation tasks.
“Certain subjects are really strong for black-and-white photos,” says Fallows. “On the ocean, I like to shoot into a choppy sea state that gives that mood and really powerful feel when you apply black and white processing to it.”
Fallows spends plenty of time at sea, and we spoke to him following a spell working off the South African coast the place he photographed 304 humpback whales in someday – a world document.
So let’s discover out extra in regards to the man, and his marine pictures…
You were runner-up in the General (Black & White) category in the fourteenth season of HIPA, with a picture of elephants, but you’re best known for photographing great white sharks and marine animals. How did you get started in photography?
I am lucky to photograph iconic species on both land and sea, but I spent over 30 years working with great whites in particular as well as other marine species.
I first got an interest as a young boy watching my dad take photographs, as he was a keen amateur wildlife photographer.
My lucky break came in 1996. I was very fortunate to discover and document the breaching great whites of South Africa and this fortuitous discovery created a niche for me to then pursue photography as a career.
Initially my work was heavily action-oriented but over time I began to see the art in nature and today this is what I have refined my style towards.
You capture your photos with an artistic eye. How does this apply to marine animals, where you’re looking to go beyond ‘record’ shots, and which techniques do you employ?
My intention is always to create work that evokes a strong sense of artistry. With this in mind every every single trip I go on has a high degree of planning.
I go with an image in mind and first choose a location that may offer a chance to create a certain look and feel to my work.
As such, backgrounds are very important to me and I choose them carefully; when combined with moody elements like clouds, dust, exhaled breath or a ruffled sea state, it takes the image to a different level.
Finally, I need huge amounts of time for my subject to perform in the canvas I have selected and this is always the tricky part as all my subjects are completely wild.
On both land and ocean I like to shoot from very low, creating a sense of engagement that enhances the stature of my subjects.
Added to this I often shoot with a very shallow depth of field to create a soft feel and mood around my subject matter to create a certain mood and sense of being.
How close can you get to the action, and which lenses do you favor?
While I would consider myself adequately technically proficient, my greatest strength is my knowledge of my subjects which has taken a lifetime to develop.
This knowledge allows me on occasion to get very close to these magnificent creatures I work with having earned their trust.
I am also very lucky to have an incredible partner in my wife Monique, who not only shares my passion but is also an excellent set of eyes watching my back.
When I have a choice I prefer to use shorter and often wide-angle lenses to bring in the greater canvas.
For 90% of my work at sea, I shoot with a Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM lens. It is super-sharp, fast and light enough that I can work with it on seas that are sometimes rough.
I also occasionally shoot with a Canon RF 400mm F2.8L IS USM when conditions allow, to create the lovely soft bokeh in my work which is especially pleasing when one shoots through long swells.
You’re working off the south-west coast of Africa, far out at sea, on an open-deck boat. It sounds like hard work in tough conditions…
It can be intimidating to be caught in a big, angry sea off the Cape of Storms, and likewise, when we are in the bush, it is more often than not just my wife and I living out of our tent, needing to be completely self-sufficient in remote areas.
Being seasick, sunburnt, dusty, flooded and sometimes scared are all part of it, but on the flip side, these red letter days are so incredible that any hardship is quickly forgotten.
I would also say that, when you look back at many of the most memorable moments or images, it is sometimes the hardship that you reflect on most fondly.
You’re also a conservationist and your photo trips also contribute to science. Is this where happywhale.com comes in – is it where you logged your new record of 299 great whales photographed and accurately identified in a day, last December?
Yes, over my life, I have experienced what very few people have, and this has all been thanks to the incredible animals that I have been so privileged to work with.
It is now my turn to give something back through the sale of my fine-art work. All of the profits that are accrued are used to buy land to create wildlife corridors and protect habitat, with the idea of making these landscapes more climate-change resilient and offering a chance for them to be re-wilded.
In this endeavor, we have just completed the purchase of a 10,700 hectare property in southern Namibia, and we currently have an offer on a second farm that will allow us to connect two significant conservation areas.
We also like to contribute to other meaningful projects, either through our images giving a ‘why’ to other conservation efforts, such as our current exhibition at Dubai International Airport.
This exhibition highlights that this major aviation hub is a signatory to the Buckingham Palace Declaration that has pledged to stop the trafficking of endangered species.
Another way of contributing is by using our images to gain a better understanding of what certain species are doing.
One good example of this is our work with Mdu Seakamela from South Africa’s Forests and Fisheries branch, to whom we donate our images.
They are then uploaded onto HappyWhale, a world whale database, and from the distinctive whale tail patterns, we are able to then see the place these whales are shifting to.
Incredibly, on 30 December 2025, we photographed 299 completely different humpback whales in a day, which is a world document for the most important quantity precisely recorded.
It’s an incredible instance of how pictures and residents may contribute to furthering our information of a species.
What’s the standing of whales in 2026 – are some whale species nonetheless underneath menace despite the fact that most nations have given up whaling?
It’s largely excellent news, with some species like humpbacks doing rather well typically, though remoted populations like Arabian Humpback whales, the place lower than 100 stay, are struggling on account of localised threats in that area.
Other iconic species like blue whales and sperm whales are recovering, though not at fairly the identical price as humpbacks.
While only some nations nonetheless sadly see match to kill what we’ve got learnt are clever, social and sentient creatures, new threats have manifested themselves – comparable to entanglement in discarded fishing gear and ship strikes, each of that are rising.
Find out extra
Discover extra about Chris and Monique Fallows’ artwork and conservation work or to seek out methods to collaborate with them, go to www.chrisfallows.com or comply with Chris on Instagram at @chrisfallowsphotography
Born and raised in South Africa, Chris Fallows grew to become keen on wildlife throughout childhood and began photographing marine life when he was a teen.
His breakthrough photograph was ‘Air Jaws’, captured in 1996, and he was lucky to have discovered from a number of the largest wildlife and nature photographers.
Fallows travels extensively to {photograph} the nice white sharks and marine animals that he’s greatest recognized for, and sells massive fine-art prints of his images.
He has appeared in numerous documentaries, for broadcasters together with the BBC and the Discovery Channel, and can also be a Canon ambassador.
Read extra in Digital Camera journal
An extended model of this interview seems in situation 311 (September 2026) of Digital Camera journal.
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