Alexander Mustard Photo Bio
Dr Alexander Mustard trained and worked as a marine biologist, but since 2004 has worked full time as a professional underwater photographer and author. He took his first pictures underwater at the age of nine. They were not very good, but over the years they improved and he is widely regarded as one of the most creative underwater photographers, whose works is admired and respected around the world. You can see a portfolio of his work here. He Alex was born in 1975 and has been a certified diver for more than half his life.
His images are known for their distinctive style that makes them instantly recognisable, often with bright, strong colours and simple, yet memorable compositions. They have won many awards and have been widely published. Alex was an early adopter of digital and has pioneered many of the specialist techniques of digital underwater photography, such as the use of filters in available light photography leading to the invention of the Magic Filter, the fisheye-teleconver technique for wide angle macro photography, the use of strobe filters for adjusting water colour, and using telephoto lenses underwater. Moreover, Alex has not kept these techniques trade secrets, but has shared his ideas through numerous magazine articles and columns.
Alex has won many awards for his photography including being a multiple winner in the two most prestigious competitions for underwater photographers: the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and World Festival of Underwater Photography in Antibes, France. His photographs have been displayed in exhibitions around the world and a particular highlight was when Alex was asked to personally present his work to Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2006.
Since 2004 the over arching aim of Alex's photography has been book projects, ideally taking on projects that build towards these goals. His first photo book, The Art Of Diving, was released in April 2006. The Art Of Diving is a collaboration with diving and travel author Nick Hanna and is not just a photo collection but is an exploration of why we love to dive, and has been described by David Doubilet as "the best book about diving since Jacques Cousteaus The Silent World" and by reviewer Willy Volk "never before has a book about scuba diving been so beautiful, so literate, and so spot on". The Art Of Diving was published by Ultimate Sports. A German language edition Tauchen Ultimativ and the North American hardback edition, published by The Lyons Press, have followed. Alex's second book Reefs Revealed is the first he has both written and photographed, and was published by Constable and Robinson in October 2007. A French edition Voyage Au Coeur Des Recifs was released simulatenously and a German edition Im Riff was published in 2008. Reefs Revealed won the highly prestigious International Grand Prize for the best book of underwater photographs at the 34th World Festival of Underwater Photography in Antibes and has been described by Simon Rogerson of DIVE Magazine as a coffee-table book with brains as well as beauty. Since completing the photography for Reefs Revealed at the beginning of 2007, Alex has been photographing towards his next book project...
Alex's images are used in other books including Earth (2004) and Ocean (2006) part of the Dorling Kindersley Reference Library Series, Beneath the Seven Seas (2005) by George Bass and Published by Thames and Hudson, and the Maharishi 2004 Magnus Opus on camouflage DPM: Disruptive Patterned Material (2004). He also wrote a chapter for Martin Edge The Underwater Photographer (2006), the Underwater Photo and Video Chapter for Jeffrey Gallant The Diving Almanac and Book Of Records (2009) and a chapter for Michael Aw The Advanced Guide To Digital Underwater Photography (2007) and along with Doubilet, Frink and Perrine contributed to the learning with the masters section of the same title. Recently he has contributed 150 images, including the cover, to Dive: Red Sea, by Ultimate Sports, which was released in March 2007, and many photographs including the cover to the German title Pocket Guide Fur Taucher Rotes Meer (2008). He also contributed to Enzo Borri Fotografia Subacquea: per turtisti digitali (2005) published by Digital Lifestyle and Diver's Guide To The Art Of Underwater Photography (2008) by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari, published by Nautilus Press.
Alex has written more than 300 published articles about marine life, diving and underwater photography. He is a Contributing Editor to DIVE Magazine (UK) and in 2009 began writing a new monthly column on Underwater Photography called PhotoPro, a Senior Contributor to Underwater Photography Magazine (UK), is a Contributing Editor to Wetpixel Quarterly (USA), and an honorary editor of Ocean Geographic (Australia). He has also written more than 50 installments of his popular Dr Mustard Column for Ocean Frontiers in the Cayman Islands, and twenty editions of his Talking Megapixels Column for FiNS Magazine (Singapore), both now ended, and he contributes regularly to many other publications.
Alex's photographs are used widely in numerous magazines and newspapers around the world, including: The Times (UK), The Sunday Times (UK), The Sun (UK), The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), FHM (UK), BBC Wildlife Magazine (UK), Newton (I), Planet Earth (UK), Outdoor Photographer (UK), Amateur Photographer (UK), Professional Photographer (UK), Digital Photography (UK), Practical Photography (UK), Digital Camera Shopper (UK), Digital Camera Buyer (UK) EasyJet In Flight (UK), Stuff (UK), Today (Sin) & Hasselblad News (UK). As well as, of course, appearing regularly in specialist scuba diving magazines, such as DIVE (UK), Scuba Diving (USA), Sport Diver (USA), FiNS (SIN), Tauchen (D), Ocean Geographic (Aus), Diver (CAN), Diver (UK), Sport Diver (UK), Dyk (Scandinavia), Unterwasser (D), Underwater Photography (UK), Wetpixel Quarterly (USA), Aqva (I), Duiken (NL), Divestyle (RSA), OE (UK), Scuba Diving Australiasia (AUS), Plongeur (F), H2O (Egypt), Dive Chronicles (USA), Skin Diver (USA), Oceans Illustrated (UK), X-Ray (DK), Sports Dykkeren (DK), Dykking (Norway), and Sukeltaja (FIN).
Alex has used a wide variety of photographic equipment to produce his portfolio of underwater images including digital, 35mm and medium format SLRs. His main camera is currently a Nikon D700 digital SLR camera in a Subal ND700 housing. He regularly writes reviews on new underwater photography equipment and cameras. He is also one of the few people to still run an underwater Hasselblad medium format system, although this sees little serious use now. Alex also tests a variety of underwater camera systems, strobes and accessories for Underwater Photography Magazine and Wetpixel.com. To his peers his name is synonymous with some of the new digital techniques that he has pushed forward, and his images appear in a number of other photographers' textbooks and articles as testament to this, as well as in the articles he writes himself. Alex is also the brains behind Magic Filters - filters designed specifically for available light underwater photography with digital cameras. These filters, launched in August 2005, are revolutionizing available light underwater photography and have been supplied to photographers in more than 60 countries.
One of the most unusual projects Alex has been involved in is Nissan's NV200 concept car built for the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2007. The car was designed specifically around his needs as an underwater photographer working in the field and features a patented sliding cargo pod which is divided into a number of separate areas into which different pieces of diving and photographic equipment can be stored. A computer table drops down from the side of the van to reveal two LCD screens upon which images can be displayed, reviewed and edited. The front passenger seat swivels backwards on a single curved rail to face the table.
One of Alex's specialties is in capturing the natural behaviour of marine life that many divers miss, twice winning awards in the BBC Wildlife Photographer Of The Year for these types of images. Being a marine biologist gives him a bit of an unfair advantage. Such images enable Alex to share his fascination and show the real lives of the animals and form an important part of his book Reefs Revealed. As a non-piscivore he feels showing the personality of marine life will make people less inclined to eat them! He also strongly believes that underwater photographs should be taken without harming or harassing marine life. Alex contributed to the Code of Conduct for Underwater Photographers put together by the Marine Conservation Society (UK).
Alex runs highly popular Digital Underwater Photography Workshops (usually two per year). For the last few years these have been at the start of the year in the Cayman Islands and then in the middle of the year in the Red Sea. Both are destinations with reliable photographic conditions and predictable subject matter, making them ideally suited for teaching. Obviously, Alex has a great deal of field experience in both locations. These trips always fill up very quickly, please contact Alex to be first to hear about forthcoming workshops. His workshops are aimed at DSLR photographers and usually attract photographers with reasonable experience looking to improve aspects of their images, you can see a participants gallery from his 2009 Cayman workshop here. Alex also runs marine wildlife photography focused group trips each year for British travel agent Divequest and for Wetpixel that also attract many photographers, although they do not contain any formal teaching, the diving is tailored to photography and there is always plenty of photo chat between the dives.
Alex is a committee member of the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP, Associate Editor for Wetpixel.com and a member of the Ocean Artists Society. Alex is a very popular speaker on underwater photography, and you will catch him regularly on stage at the British Dive Shows, where he hosts the digital clinic with Saeed Rashid, BSoUP and other underwater photography group meetings, at the prestigious Visions in the Sea Conference where he has spoken for the last seven years consecutively, at the inaugural WildPhotos conference and at dive shows further afield such as DEMA, The Cayman Island's Film Festival, the Copenhagen Dive Show and the NELOS Festival. He has also appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's Midweek program. Alex also makes occasional appearances on screen. Alex was an expert discussing marine life in John McIntyre and John Boyle's 2004 film: Ocean Weirdos, a role he reprised in 2008 for his own show on the Underwater Channel called Cuttingroom Critters. He was also the underwater production photographer on the forthcoming US movie on freediving The Greater Meaning Of Water and most recently has presented the Shooting Magic DVD on the techniques of underwater photography with filters. Alex"s diving equipment is sponsored by Scubapro UWATEK.
Alex also acts as a judge on many prestigious underwater photography competitions through the year. He has been a judge for the OWU/DivePhotoGuide/Wetpixel competition each year since its inception (2006/2007/2008/2009/2010), the BUIF in 2007, 2008 and 2009, as well as many other contests. For example in 2009 he judged Sharks in Focus, Visions In The Sea, the Blue O Two competition, the Bristol Underwater Photographers Group final, the Fotosub Gran Canaria Costa Mogan, the El Hierro Open Fotosub, the Swedish Underwater Photography Championship and the Epson Red Sea UK Underwater Photographer of the Year. His advice to entrants is The best way to win competitions is to take excellent and original underwater photos that stop the judges in their tracks. A wow shot that we can understand straight away. Judges always want to choose the best photos as winners - make their job easier by entering stunning images.
Alex was educated at Mount House School, Devon, and Stowe School, Buckinghamshire, where he attended as a Roxborough Scholar. As a marine biologist Alex received both is undergraduate degree (BSc Hons) and his PhD from Southampton University (both at the National Oceanography Centre) and was awarded the Norman Heaps prize from the Challenger Society for Marine Science (2002) as one the UKs most promising young marine scientists. His most recent peer reviewed publication was in the prestigious journal Nature.
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Published quotes about Alex
MUSTARD, Dr. Alexander, U.K. (1975-). Marine scientist; award winning underwater photographer; inventor of Magic Filter; digital officer for the British Society of Underwater Photographers; associate editor of Wetpixel.com; contributing editor DIVE Magazine; honorary editor Ocean Geographic Magazine; senior contributor Underwater Photography Magazine; amustard.com
Diving Whos Who The Diving Almanac And Book Of Records 2009
Alex has a unique eye. This is dynamic underwater imagery at its best.
David Doubilet in The Art Of Diving.
Alex, you are a breath of fresh air to all underwater photographers; thank you for sharing your ideas with us.
Martin Edge in The Underwater Photographer.
As far as I am concerned, he's the best underwater photographer currently working in the UK. Just as importantly, he's a skillful writer who delights in sharing information with fellow enthusiasts.
Simon Rogerson introducing Alex column PhotoPro in DIVE Magazine.
Alex has provided consistently boundary-pushing articles and images throughout the history of UwP. It has been a pleasure to not only work with him in the magazine but also to go on a few trips together where his knowledge and enthusiasm are inspirational and contagious. His embrace of digital photography underwater has shown us all the way forward and his openness in imparting his knowledge and experience is a credit to his personality.
Peter Rowlands in Underwater Photography Magazine.
Dr Alex Mustard, 32, is an award winning marine biologist and one of the world's most innovative underwater photographers.
Sue Fox in The Sunday Times (London).
Alex Mustard has become synonymous with coupling fantastical visions of an image he has imagined with innovative equipment developments to create them. The result has been signature shots that are instantly recognisable as Mustard Masterpieces.
Colin Doeg (co-founder of the British Society of Underwater Photographers).
This publication marks Mustard's arrival as an underwater snapper of international importance - one of just two Brits whose work is admired all over the world.
Simon Rogerson reviewing The Art Of Diving in DIVE Magazine.
[Mustard is] arguably Britain's most successful underwater photographer... who has won many awards for his thoughtful, original and often spectacular work, and also for his new book.
DIVER Magazine UK.
Online interviews with Alex
Another way to find out more about Alex and his photography is to read a couple of these online interviews.
On... Digital Underwater Photography published at RobGalbraith.com - by Eamon Hickey.
On... Me and my travels published in The Observer interview by Clive Wilkinson.
On... Underwater Photography published in Outdoor Photography Magazine - by Heather Gregory.
On... Best Of Times, Worst Of Times in The Sunday Times Magazine interview by Sue Fox, portraits by Pal Hansen.
On... Underwater Wildlife Photography published at Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forums - by James Morrissey.
On... Underwater Photography published at Photography Sites dot com - by Website Administrator.
On... Photography for The Art Of Diving published in UWP Magazine - by Peter Rowlands.
On... Digital underwater photography and The Art Of Diving, published in Easyjet Inflight Magazine - by Piers Townley.
On... Underwater Photography. Part of the FiNS Foto Feature, published in FiNS Magazine.
A review of The Art Of Diving, published at Wetpixel - by Willy Volk.
On... Underwater Photography (in Dutch), published in Duiken Magazine by Ron Offermans.
On... Underwater Photography (in Swedish), published in DYK Magazine by Fredrik Isakson.
On... Underwater Photography (in Estonian), published in Adrenaliin Magazine by Kaido Haagen.
On... Neon Sights, published in Dive Magazine big shot feature - by Colin Doeg.
