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Doug Allan Underwater Cinematographer Text by Alison Barrat Photos courtesy of Doug Allan and Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation You might know Doug Allan because of his spectacu- lar cinematography. In his 30-year filming career, he’s been involved with over 60 films and series, and has worked for BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and many oth- ers, filming on series such as The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Human Planet and Frozen Planet. His photographic awards include seven Emmy’s and four BAFTA’s. He has twice won the underwater category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and was awarded the Royal Geographical Society’s Cherry Kearton Medal for his wildlife images. Last year, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. Or, maybe you’re familiar with his work But you probably won’t know Allan for AB: You’ve said that your early career paragraph. I couldn’t go into space, but ting close to dangerous animals. Classic in Antarctica. He spent eight years his views on being hugged by a Walrus, ambitions were to work “underwater, anyone could go underwater. things that would attract a wee boy. down south as a research diver, sci- why he gives Svalbard airport café a anywhere”. What attracted you to div- Back then, underwater was a much entist, and photographer for the British wide berth, or what he thinks about mak- ing? more foreign environment then it is now. AB: Are those the same reasons you went Antarctic Survey (BAS), before changing ing films on ocean conservation. Read I read The Silent World [by Jacques-Yves to be a research diver in Antarctica? direction to full time filming in 1985. He on to find out what Allan has to say DA: I was drawn to the water in the 60’s Cousteau] when I was 11 or 12, and has three honorary doctorates in recog- about these as well as some of his other when quite honestly there were two fron- it really fired me up with that sense of DA: When I graduated as a biologist, nition of his camerawork, as well as two stories. tiers. There was space and the ocean, underwater adventure. It was exciting I didn’t want to be a full on scientist. I Polar Medals. and they were talked about in the same and romantic, and I liked the idea of get- wanted to help scientists underwater 43 X-RAY MAG : 58 : 2014 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Allan filming humpback profile whales Doug Allan back then—and we’re talking AB: You first started filmmaking in about the days of telex, a very Antarctica, how did you get into slow and cumbersome form of it? communication—messages had to be practical, to do with issues DA: I became very interested in on base. We were only allowed photography during my first three to send out 100 words of personal winters, but then at the end of my news every month and receive third winter, we had a film crew 100 words back each month. come on the base, including Today, most of the bases David Attenborough. They were have email, so you can pretty there for just a day, and through much send as much text as you that day, I helped them around want. I think that would be too the island and took their camera- much communication for me. man underwater. Because the problem is that the It was while talking to them really good emails would tend to that I realized that there was this make me long for home, and the job called a wildlife cameraman really depressing news from ‘the that checked all the boxes I was real world’ would make me sad enjoying—diving, travel, animals, because there’s nothing you can excitement, worthwhile cause. do because you are isolated. That’s where the germ started. I think if you can’t physically get That’s where I thought that I back, then you’re actually bet- should consider shooting movies ter if you mentally can’t get back rather than stills. there either. But this is an oldie So I decided I would take a speaking, not a digital native! movie camera down on my next winter in Antarctica. Before I because I simply felt I was a bet- conference in Cambridge to Antarctica. How do you cope right kind of person to ter diver than many of them. learn about BAS and meet all with that type of isolation? be there, then there’s Back in those days, it was slightly the other people who have jobs nothing else like it—you unusual for scientists to dive, and in the Antarctic. But I bypassed DA: The most isolated place was don’t really notice the I had been working as a pearl all that completely, and when I a base called Halley, and I got isolation, or if you do, diver in Scotland and as a diver in arrived on base, I had only been a chance to be the base com- then it’s something that the central Sudanese Red Sea, so to Cambridge for about a week, mander there. The 16 of us on the you take on and almost when the vacancy for a diver in then flown down to the bottom base were isolated for 11 months; thrive under. But I have Antarctica came up, I didn’t think of South America and been on a we only got one ship during the to say that the isolation too much about it, I just applied. ship for four days. I arrived on the year. There’s no exposed rock for back then was very dif- I was offered a one year con- base on one morning, and the 150 miles, and the sun doesn’t ferent from now. tract to take the place of some- following day, the ship left for the come above the horizon for 100 The Antarctic is still body who had left. Normally, winter. We wouldn’t see any other days. physically isolated, but when you go to the Antarctic people for nine months. I think the whole BAS experi- we were quite cut off you get the job about June or ence is great if you hit it at the with regard to com- July and then you go to a big AB: You spent five winters in right time in your life. If you’re the munication. Because Allan diving with camera 44 X-RAY MAG : 58 : 2014 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Allan with underwater camera under the ice in the Canadiian Arctic; Emperor penguins and three-week- profile old chicks, photo by Doug Allan (left) Doug Allan ness made for ‘96-97. We got these lovely under- a very dramatic water shots of polar bears swim- sequence. ming. For a couple of shots, I was I always remem- in the water with them, but the ber that one in loveliest takes were with a remote terms of being a camera held over the side of the real groundbreak- boat and working with a very er. Then, on the cooperative polar bear. He let us other hand, the get really close while he was pad- time I spent with dling through the water. the emperor pen- guins in the water AB: So have you had any close for Blue Planet— calls while filming underwater? that was really spe- cial as well. DA: Well a walrus grabbed me But I have to when I was snorkelling off the say the pick of ice edge in the Arctic. I had just my underwater finished taking some still shots polar sequences of some murres diving, and I is probably the was treading water vertically. polar bears swim- Suddenly, something had me ming, which I did around the waist and was hold- for the BBC wildlife ing me really, really tightly. It was special just called a complete surprise; this was a DOUG allan Polar Bear, back in classic attack, no warning what- went, I contacted the BBC and AB: What is the best asked was anyone interested in thing that you have the footage I might come back filmed underwater with? A producer said he was, in Antarctica or the and so when I was down there, I Arctic? filmed the emperor penguins. When I came back, I showed DA: Wow, that’s a him the footage. He liked it. He hard call, but we did bought some and asked me to do leopard seals hunt- go down for the following sum- ing Adele penguins for mer to shoot stuff for his upcom- the BBC’s Life in the ing series about birds. So when Freezer. It was the first Birds for All Seasons came on TV time leopard seals had in 1985, I had my foothold. You been filmed underwa- so-ever. I looked down and attack seals. could say the first commercial ter. literally tucked underneath Sometimes they shift their diet piece of movie photography that I was always fairly my arm there was a head from mussels to seals, hunting I shot was in 1983 when I did the confident that we of a walrus. I hit him on the them when the seals are sleep- emperor penguins. could do it. But in head, hard, with the cam- ing at the surface. The walrus dive I then wrote up a couple of those days, a lot of era; he let go and swam down and look up from under ideas that I had about films, people believed that away a couple of meters water, see the seals, grab them, which you could do in the leopard seals were and looked at me.

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