Photographer, explorer and professional diver Alexis Rosenfeld is behind Mission 1 OCEAN, a major seabed exploration project run in conjunction with UNESCO. Having photographed the deep corals of Polynesia, the migration of sardines in South Africa and the underwater volcanoes of Sicily, the photographer is now turning the spotlight on the forests of red gorgonians in the Mediterranean.
By Marion Durand
Photographers may not be labelled researchers, but their visual testimony is crucial to science. A veritable ‘scientific sample’, photography bears witness to environmental upheavals, immortalising rare natural phenomena, showing the incredible biodiversity or capturing the impact of man on the marine environment.
‘Photography complements the work of researchers’, says photographer Alexis Rosenfeld. The French diver is behind a major seabed exploration programme, 1 OCEAN, being conducted with UNESCO as part of the United Nations Decade of the Ocean (2021-2030).
Over the last five years, the photojournalist has taken part in a number of expeditions around the world, taking thousands of photos to assess the state of the oceans and raise awareness of the need to protect the planet.
Under the aegis of the CNRS Foundation, the 1 OCEAN Foundation has set itself the mission of producing popular content based on scientific research into the oceans and marine environments. In June 2022, the Foundation launched its first scientific programme, L’arche de Noé des profondeurs, un avenir pour la biodiversité, to study underwater forests and red gorgonians, endemic and emblematic animals in the Mediterranean.
Marion Durand: You’ve explored almost all the world’s seas and taken thousands of photos to map out the state of the oceans. What state are they in today?
Alexis Rosenfeld: I’m not a scientist, I’m just a visual witness. From what I observe, I have the feeling that intentions are catastrophic and awareness is fairly limited. But I also think that some of the solutions we have tested, such as marine protected areas, work very well to protect ecosystems. In New Caledonia or in the Mediterranean basin, these strict reserve zones, where strict rules apply, prove that there are ways of having a healthy ocean. In these protected areas, as organisms grow and multiply, the availability of space and resources pushes fish and other species out of the area. This process of ‘spillover’ is a highly functional system that allows fishermen to work outside these areas.
The Cap Roux fishing block is a 450-hectare marine protected area created by Saint-Raphaël fishermen in 2003.. © Alexis Rosenfeld / 1 OCEAN
Have you noticed any areas in very poor condition?
Of course, diving in the Maldives had a big impact on me. One year, I discovered an extraordinary coral garden and several years later, I dived in the same place and it was a desert, a war zone after a bombardment. There was nothing left. The disappearance of this ecosystem was linked to the construction of an airport nearby. Several heat waves and bleaching episodes killed off the rest of the coral. It was quite distressing, not just for me as an explorer and photographer, but also as a human being and as a father.
Why ?
I’m not a war photographer, nor do I want to be. My intention is to take people on a journey through magnificent stories, not through the tragedies we are beginning to experience. It was the same in the Mediterranean when the 0 to 30 metre zone warmed up and the gorgonian forests died out. It was sad to see these ecosystems decimated, even though they were the most beautiful gardens in the world that Monnet could have designed.
You’re a diver and photographer, but your work is closely linked to science…
My photographic tool is a wonderful way of complementing the work of scientists. With the 1 OCEAN Foundation, I can initiate scientific missions or take part in missions organised by laboratories. The photograph has a date, a time, a position – it’s a scientific sample in the same way as those taken in the environment by researchers.
Have you noticed the climate changing as you’ve dived?
Of course, what we’re seeing on coral reefs is attributable to global warming. But I’ve also witnessed the technological revolution of recent years. When you dive to 80 or 100 metres and discover corals that you never imagined could survive at such depths, it’s incredible. It’s proof that there’s a huge lack of knowledge and that we have a lot to learn. We only know how to talk about what we see, we still have a very limited vision of the ocean.
Red gorgonians are close relatives of reef corals, but unlike them, they can live at great depths. © Alexis Rosenfeld / 1 OCEAN
A year ago you launched a new programme to explore red gorgonians in the Mediterranean. Why are you so interested in these organisms?
The ‘Deep-sea Noah’s Ark, a future for biodiversity’ project is being run in conjunction with the CNRS and the LECOB research unit at the Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer. I’m working with Lorenzo Bramanti, a researcher specialising in animal forests. We are trying to understand how gorgonians resist at depth, because beyond the 30-40 metre zone, these animals are less affected by changes in temperature. After the marine heatwaves of recent years, which have killed entire forests of gorgonians, their survival at depth is a source of hope.
You’ve dived to the four corners of the globe. Which mission has left the biggest impression on you?
I think what blew me away the most were the underwater volcanoes. We carried out this project in the archipelago of the Aeolian Islands, north of the Sicilian coast. Underwater volcanoes are beautiful and rare. They are impressive because they are the origin of life, but they also have great destructive power.
In French Polynesia, you photographed the Vallée aux Milles Roses, one of the largest coral reefs in the world. What was your reaction to this landscape?
This site is a major scientific discovery, given the impressive size of this deep reef. Local divers knew about it but had never been able to go that far because the maximum depth is limited for amateur diving in Polynesia. We discovered that down below, at more than 100 metres, another ecosystem was beginning, with gorgonians and many new species. The mission came to an end, but the limits of this reef have yet to be discovered.
Off Tahiti, photographer Alexis Rosenfeld and researcher Laetitia Hédouin explored one of the world’s largest coral reefs © Alexis Rosenfeld / 1 OCEAN
You are also leading a project on the world’s largest animal migration, that of sardines…
This project, ‘The Great Migration of Living Things’, is a combination of research and images. We’re going back to South Africa, to the wild coast, in 2024 to finish it. We filmed the world’s most impressive phenomenon: the sardine run. This migration attracts tens of thousands of specimens: whales, dolphins, sharks, fish, all kinds of birds… All this underwater life sets off to feed and reproduce. This project will be the subject of an exhibition and a documentary broadcast on Arte at the end of the year.
South Africa, July 2023. During filming for the ARTE channel on the world’s largest migration. Cameraman diver Steven Surina finds himself between the dives of the Cape gannets in search of sardines..
After so many years, are you still surprised by what you see?
Every day! I have a blast when I’m in the water, not in an office. I’m fascinated, intoxicated because every time I’m in the water it’s a new discovery. Often I can’t see what’s going on, so everything is a surprise. Underwater photography is a gift from nature; you don’t always decide what you’re going to photograph. But working underwater can be frustrating because you’re limited by decompression or the amount of gas you can take with you. Compared with my colleagues on land, who photograph for 8 or 10 hours, for me after a while it’s physically unbearable.
What are your future projects?
This year we are starting a major project on underwater forests, entitled ‘Underwater forests: a challenge for humanity’.Through this project, we want to show the importance of these incredible underwater jungles, which are home to a variety of ecosystems and a huge biodiversity. They are an incredible source of balance for the oceans and play an essential role in producing the oxygen we breathe and in absorbing the excess carbon released into the atmosphere.
READ ALSO :