What visual storytellers owe Jacques Cousteau
In today’s newsletter, the misfortune that led to Jacques Cousteau's innovations; covering a volcano; Georgia O’Keeffe’s first (photographic) exhibition; retrospective photography from Spike Lee’s 35 films … and turn back that clock!
This article is an adaptation of our weekly Photography newsletter that was originally sent out on November 6, 2021. Want this in your inbox? Sign up here.
By David Beard, Executive Editor, Newsletters
If it weren’t for a severe car accident that left him paralyzed on much of his right side, Jacques-Yves Cousteau would not have been swimming incessantly off southern France to recuperate.
If he hadn’t been swimming so much offshore, he wouldn’t have met and joined two expert divers to discover the wonders under the surface; wouldn’t have pushed to develop a breathing apparatus to see more; wouldn’t then have felt the responsibility of sharing those wonders with the world.
“Misfortune led to opportunity,” Liz Garbus, director of the new Nat Geo documentary film Becoming Cousteau, told me Friday. And Cousteau’s opportunity would become opportunity for us to view and take images of a previously hidden world.
That desire to share “led Cousteau and his collaborators to develop a camera with a waterproof housing. Boom. Underwater cinematography was revolutionized,” said Garbus. (Pictured above, Cousteau in 1970.)
Cousteau had a close association with National Geographic in his efforts to communicate the wonders—and the precariousness—of the world’s seas.
The following photos, never published before, were taken by Robert Goodman for Nat Geo in June 1963, when Cousteau, in an unprecedented operation, dropped an “underwater village” to the lower depths of the Red Sea. Five divers would live for a month in the underwater base to examine the long-term effects on humans.
The diving saucer: Cousteau's circular yellow undersea vessel, shown here on a float in Port Sudan, would be key to the 1963 experiments.
Practice: Divers in scuba gear practice underwater survival techniques needed for the research.
Preparing to surface: Breathing a mixture enriched with oxygen, Andre Folco and oceanaut Pierre Vannoni lower the nitrogen saturation of their blood so they may surface without lengthy decompression.
Observing: Cousteau (at right) and crew, all in swimsuits, stand in an underwater research vessel and observe deep sea life.
Inventions: This massive camera was designed for dark ocean conditions for the Cousteau study. Below, his team scrubbed off fast-growing seaweed from the submersible research vessel. Cousteau kept updating vessels and missions to capture more of the sea’s secrets.
Says Garbus: “I love how Cousteau, as a filmmaker, was always a work in progress. He was never satisfied, never settled. He was always pushing the boundaries, working outside his comfort zone.”
Throughout his life, Cousteau offered inspiration for visual storytellers and advocates for the world’s oceans. “As he aged, he also realized the importance of not taking his subject for granted,” Garbus said. “He was not dispassionate; he was engaged with the world as opposed to being merely a witness.”
Find out more about Becoming Cousteau here.
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TODAY IN A MINUTE
Through his brother’s lens: David Lee, younger brother of movie director Spike, is publishing a hefty retrospective photography book, with images he’s shot from Spike’s 35-plus films. It even comes with custom typography based on Radio Raheem’s “LOVE/HATE” brass knuckles from “Do the Right Thing,” Chicago Sun-Times reports. The book is out Nov. 17.
Stunning: Between 2014 and 2020, Frank Herfort photographed all of the existing Soviet-era metro trains, ultimately visiting more than 770 stations in 19 cities. Inspired by the mystique and immensity of the underground system, he captured most stations when they were devoid of passengers. That meant most pictures had to be taken before 6 a.m. or after 11 p.m. See some of his photos in the New York Times.
A new look: Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston is the first exhibition devoted to the artist’s photography. The groundbreaking collection displays about 100 of her photos from a previously unstudied archive, Hyperallergic reports.
New Museum Triennial: Soft Water, Hard Stone is the moniker for this year’s New Museum triennial, a title drawn from a Brazilian proverb. The show at the Manhattan museum is full of neutrals, concrete, and graphite gray. Check out photos of some of the highlights from Artnet.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
43 days of work: Photographer Arturo Rodriguez has been singularly focused on the Cumbre Vieja volcano since it erupted on the Canary Island of La Palma in September. Pictured above, a Spanish military specialist, in a thermal suit, collects samples from volcanic slags that are more than 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit). The eruption was Cumbre Vieja’s first since 1971, and early warnings helped 7,000 villagers evacuate, Nat Geo reports.
LAST GLIMPSE
In the Blue Zones: The traditional diets in areas where people tend to live longer may contribute to their greater longevity, author and Nat Geo Explorer Dan Buettner wrote for National Geographic. The photo above is from one of those Blue Zones, the island of Sardinia in Italy. In the photo, recently spotlighted in our Photo of the Day feature, women prepare culurgiones, pasta dough stuffed with potato, pecorino cheese, and mint.
Don’t forget! Why Americans turn back the clock this weekend
This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Jen Tse and Monica Williams, with special thanks this week to Julia Andrews, Rebecca Dupont, and Susie Riggs of Nat Geo’s Image Collection team. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Rita Spinks, Alec Egamov, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Have an idea or a link? We’d love to hear from you at david.beard@natgeo.com. Thanks for reading!
