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It’s not your typical romance – meeting your future wife while photographing a shark giving birth in the Bahamas. But nothing is typical about the life of National Geographic photographer David Doubilet.

Wellingtonians will journey into Doubilet’s world when he shares stories and photographs at Te Papa next month.

Working for the international publication was one of the greatest jobs anyone could have, he said.

Doubilet has spent 43 years photographing ocean life.

He and his wife, aquatic biologist Jennifer Hayes, have worked together since meeting over a shark’s birth more than 10 years ago in the Bahamas.

“[Jennifer] was working on her masters degree and I came down to photograph the birth. Low and behold, I photographed a shark giving birth,” he said.

When they are not exploring the world, the couple live on the edge of the St Lawrence river between Ontario, Canada and New York state.

The river empties into the St Lawrence Gulf, where natural gas and oil has been found.

“Few people know how rich the St Lawrence gulf is,” Doubilet said.

Not many people decide on a career at 12, but Doubilet dived straight into photography.

“I grew up in New Jersey and New York City. When I began going underwater at age 12, I was always taking a camera.

“The first time I put my head underwater was in the Adirondack Mountains [aged 8] at a summer camp.

“There was a vision in front of me that was beyond dreams. I was free. I could breathe.

“It really did change the direction of my life. I knew what I wanted to be doing.”

Light and colours behaved differently underwater, he said.

“It’s exceptionally complex. The sea is weightless.

“Light disappears after 200 feet and colours disappear in the first few feet. But by bringing light through an electric flash on a reef bottom, it restores the whole spectrum of colour and illuminates the bottom, which is brilliantly colourful.”

Underwater photography is not a job for the faint-hearted.

“There’s joy and danger. Underwater, at best, you can see 30 metres. Our cameras at least give us some form of protection from an aggressive shark.”

Underwater photography was a new and important art form because it documented unseen beauty that would not last forever, Doubilet said.

“The history of underwater photography is only 30 years old, so we’re looking at new visions and worlds within our small and very overcrowded planet.

“The sea is really the entry to the earth and right now a lot of our seas are in trouble.

“Thirty years from now, the Coral Triangle will not be recognisable. The best thing we can do is try to open people’s eyes to the sea and show them what we must protect.”

Part of being a photographer meant facing the unexpected, like witnessing a tiger shark feeding on the remains of a sperm whale.

“An adventure is when everything you wanted to go right goes wrong. An expedition is going into the unknown. Underwater, the unexpected is the norm. That’s one of the joys.”

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Doubilet visited New Zealand’s “magic waters” in 1988, when he photographed the Three Kings Islands, Bay of Islands and Fiordland marine reserves.

During this year’s trip, his focus is on sharing his photos and stories to audiences.

In Coral, Fire, & Ice Doubilet will focus on his trips to Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea, sculptural icebergs and shipwrecks in the icy waters of Antarctica.

Coral, fire & ice: Explore Secret Underwater Worlds with David Doubilet, Te Papa, August 7, 7.30pm, tickets from ticketmaster.co.nz.

– The Wellingtonian

It’s a cold, wet and, needless to say, windy morning at CentrePort Wellington. Cruise ship passengers in the terminal have been temporarily replaced by metres of bubble wrap, duct tape and four art enthusiasts fiercely discussing 20 artworks on easels.

Who are they The NZ Art Show Signature Piece judging panel is made up of trustee Jo Hughes, 30 Upstairs gallery’s Mal Brow, Taranaki artist Jordan Barnes and prominent Wellingtonian Jane Hart.

They are choosing the top 10 works that the public will vote on at the NZ Art Show to determine which artist wins $5000.

Panel convenor Hughes has been on the annual NZ Art Show’s governing body since its inception 11 years ago, and has served on the selection panel for the past eight years.

“If I look back at that first year, some of the stuff was a bit cringey, but now it looks amazing.”

Hughes has no trouble persuading fellow panel members to have an untitled $1100 piece by Jules German go through.

“You might first look at it and just think, ‘Oh, it’s a bunch of skeletons’. But it reminds me of that New York photograph of skyscraper builders sitting on a ledge. The artist might not think that, but that’s OK.”

Brow, who is drawn to the photographic works, says there has been a bit of foot stomping over the years when it comes to choosing the top 10, but nothing a vote cannot solve.

The NZ Art Show, one of the biggest collections of original, affordable New Zealand art, will take place from July 25-27 at TSB Arena, Queens Wharf. Tickets $10.

JO HUGHE’S ART-BUYING TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

1. THE VIEW: “You can have a look at the detail up close and tilt your head but what’s always a good thing is to stand a couple of metres back to look at it.”

2. IMAGINE IT BY ITSELF

“Imagine all the art around it isn’t there. The show can be a bit overwhelming because there is so much art, so you need to picture it in your own home or context.”

3. WHICH WALL “Don’t worry about where it’s going to go – if you love it, it will find a place.”

4. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS: “You don’t have to know why you love it. People get quite nervous about saying what they like but there’s no right or wrong answer.”

5. AGREEING: “Couples can’t always agree, so maybe take it in turns, otherwise your house ends up with all the same art. If I bought only the things I liked, the house would be full of skeletons but my husband likes something different so it balances nicely.”

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– Wellington

Wellington composer John Psathas is creating a $1 million mega symphony with a global ensemble of musicians in a commemorative performance across World War I battle sites.

The ambitious project has been jointly funded by a Lotteries Commission grant and Victoria University, and would link musicians from around the world, on multiple sites, playing original music as part of an “epic world symphony of musical commemoration” dedicated to all those affected during the Great War, Psathas said.

He will follow in the footsteps of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, journeying to Britain, France, Turkey and Belgium to film and record the musicians playing the new work.

Locations across Europe and North Africa will be scouted as potential spots to record musicians in the field.

“When a Turkish musician collaborates with a New Zealand or Australian counterpart, when a Russian musician performs with a German or a Briton with an Austrian, they are bearing witness – often unawares – that we who once fought are no longer enemies,” he said.

Players will be filmed in locations specific to war commemorations and the recordings will be edited, synced and combined with archival imagery and footage, then woven together visually and sonically with musicians playing live on stage.

Psathas described the work, to debut in 2016, as a “love letter to peace”.

WHO IS JOHN PSATHAS

You might have written a searing book report in year 10 on John Steinbeck’s classic American novel Of Mice and Men about the struggles of two migrant men, and friends against the world – George Milton and gentle giant Lennie Small – drifting from farm to farm in search of work, and dreaming of having their own during the Great Depression in the 30s.

The play is

He’s not even a year old and already Prince George is at the centre of yet another Photoshop scandal in the United States.

To commemorate his impending first birthday,

The stars of the hit US sitcom The Big Bang Theory have yet to ink new contracts and are believed to be holding out for a million dollars an episode.

US network CBS has already green lit three more seasons of The Big Bang Theory, which airs in Australia on the Nine Network, but negotiations with actors has hit a snag.

The Hollywood Reporter says actors Jim Parsons (who plays Sheldon Cooper), Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter), Kaley Cuoco (Penny Kaley), Simon Helberg (Howard Wolowitz) and Kunal Nayyar (Raj Koothrappal) have not signed and are working together to extract a huge pay increase.

The US entertainment website quotes industry sources and says there has been no movement in the negotiations which started in September.

The eighth season of The Big Bang Theory is due to start production by the end of July.

However, the cast is not expected to follow the lead of the Modern Family cast which staged a walkout while they renegotiated their deals with studio 20th Century Fox Television.

“Multiple Emmy winner Parsons (who again is nominated this year), Galecki and Cuoco are all seeking big salary increases,” says The Hollywood Reporter.

“Sources told THR in September that the trio, who currently earn $325,000 per episode, are seeking up to $1 million per half-hour.

“They’re expected to negotiate together; Helberg and Nayyar also are looking for increases and will negotiate together.”

Warner Bros. Television declined to comment, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The contract negotiations are reminiscent of the Friends cast who secured a salary of $US1,000,000 an episode each for the last two seasons of the hit comedy.

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– AAP

He’s not even a year old and already Prince George is at the centre of yet another Photoshop scandal in the United States.

To commemorate his impending first birthday,

A PROMISE (M)
Directed by Patrice Leconte

Friedrich Zeitz (Richard Madden) has made an instant impression. Not only on new boss Herr Karl Hoffmeister (Alan Rickman) but also his wife – Frau Lotte Hoffmeister (Rebecca Hall).
Zeitz’s forward thinking and attention to detail quickly earns the engineering graduate a promotion and when Herr Hoffmeister is struck down by a “quite serious health condition” there’s only one man he trusts to keep an eye on his affairs.

However, the more time Zeitz spends around the Hoffmeister household the more he becomes entranced by Lotte and the further convinced he is that she shares his affections.

So when Herr Hoffmeister insists Zeitz moves in so he can better serve his private secretary duties, it just seems to be inviting trouble.

Based on Viennese writer Stefan Zweig’s (whose writing’s inspired Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel) 1976 novella Journey into the Past, A Promise is a lavish looking period drama filled with gorgeous costumes and an impressive leading trio of actors.