A ‘privilege to be out there’: South African wildlife photographer Chris Fallows on his storied career | CNN

Chris Fallows

Taken in June 2001, "Air Jaws" is considered the image that really launched Chris Fallows' career as a fine art wildlife photographer. Captured at Seal Island, off the coast of Cape Town -- known for an abundance of Cape fur seals -- Fallows says this is the ultimate image of a great white shark breach that he's photographed. Scroll through the gallery to see more.

Chris Fallows

Fallows captured this image, which he calls "The Final Act," in 2016. Sadly, he says, the image is one of last breaches seen at Seal Island. The great whites have since largely disappeared from the waters around Cape Town. "(The image) symbolizes an iconic species during something that we no longer see, and is really a very important message for people out there that we need to look after these animals wherever they occur," Fallows says.

Chris Fallows

Fallows is best known for the work he's done with marine wildlife -- especially the great white shark, which he says he has spent over 3,000 days with. This image, known as "The Pearl," went viral after its release last year, "showcasing the athleticism of the incredible Great White Shark in all its predatory glory," Fallows writes on his website.

Chris Fallows

He also spends more than 100 days a year in other parts of Africa capturing images of iconic species -- and the most magnificent of their kind, such as this striking photograph of some of Africa's remaining giant elephants, "walking proudly across a barren landscape," taken in 2019.

Chris Fallows

As a fine art wildlife photographer, Fallows aims to create truly exceptional works that celebrate the planet's most iconic wildlife subjects. This image titled "Matriarch" was photographed in 2018, and is "a stoic embodiment of a magnificent female tusker leading her herd," he says.

Chris Fallows

Fallows uses innovative techniques and a lifetime of getting to know his subjects, which allows him to get respectfully and intimately close to lions, elephants and great white sharks, among others. He says it's not just about capturing images that represent the essence of each specific subject, but also having meaning behind the work that tells a story.

Chris Fallows

This image, titled "The Inquisition," was captured in Central Kalahari, Botswana, in 2010. "My time with these creatures make me feel as if I have walked with Olympians, stood with royalty and engaged with proud leaders and warriors," Fallows says, "not of the human kind but of fin, feather and fur."

Chris Fallows

This intimacy with his subjects affords Fallows the opportunities to capture fine art photographs in a way that few have ever had the chance to do. "I do not see swimming unprotected alongside the Great White or walking close to the lion as threatening, but rather wonderful experiences with predators that would far rather hunt normal prey than myself," he adds.

Chris Fallows

"Leviathan" was captured in 2020 and is "the embodiment of the ocean and the great fluke of the whale," Fallows says. "With perfect symmetry, cascading water and moody ocean and sky, this is as close as I have ever come in 30-plus years of trying to capture the perfect symbol of the sea." He shot this image on a Canon R5, using a shutter speed of 1/1000th second.

Chris Fallows

Last year, Fallows launched his collection titled "The 11th Hour," which looks back at many of his most well-known photographs -- and sadly in some cases reflects subjects that are no longer alive. Eleven of the 12 works are black and white, with this final one, "The Fig and Elephant," being in color, "which represents the 11th hour, the hour of hope," he says. "It is the embodiment of two icons that still exist on our planet and that which we can still save."

CNN —

For many people, getting the chance to witness some of the world’s most iconic wildlife up close and in their natural environment is high on the bucket list. If you’re lucky, and your hands are steady in the moment, you might even capture the perfect photo and a vacation memory to last a lifetime.

Chris Fallows, world-renowned South African wildlife photographer, knows just how exhilarating this kind of experience can be. He’s lived it over and over.

Fans of “Shark Week” have likely seen Fallows’ work; he was the first to capture a great white shark breaching the waters near Seal Island, off the coast of Cape Town, in 1996. His extensive body of work has since appeared in more than 60 international documentaries and over 500 publications. For Fallows, though, taking a photograph is about more than capturing a great image. It’s about telling a unique story and sharing a passion with the world.

As a dedicated shark conservationist, he and his wife are educating people about this often-misunderstood predator. But his efforts don’t stop there – Fallows fights for all wildlife and hopes that through his lens, he can create awareness and effect change for many animals that Fallows says he’s seen disappearing in what amounts to an “evolutionary blink of an eye.”

CNN caught up with Fallows recently to learn more about his work and his mission.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

CNN: How and when did you get into wildlife photography?

Chris Fallows: I was exposed to wildlife as a very young boy. Through that exposure, I became incredibly passionate about these animals. I was very fortunate to be able to discover some pretty unique behavior at Seal Island and False Bay, and that was of the flying great white shark. I certainly saw a great niche and opportunity for me as a photographer, and I started trying to capture this incredibly athletic great white shark’s behavior, which opened unprecedented doors for me throughout the world.

Courtesy Chris Fallows

Photographer Chris Fallows has been capturing images of iconic wildlife for nearly 30 years.

CNN: What are some of the challenges, myths, and misconceptions about wildlife photography?

Fallows: Wildlife photography is an incredibly glamorous, gratifying occupation. However, it also involves a tremendous amount of hard work. The more depth you study your subjects, the more connected you become with them, the more emotionally attached you become.

Each year for the past five years, I have spent wild camping with my wife Monique and members of one of Kenya’s Maasai tribes, where we live with the Maasai embracing their culture and then going out with them to find and photograph the last of the 30 great “tuskers” [African elephants whose tusks grow so long they can touch the ground] left in Africa today. This is just one example of the incredible stories that give an extra dimension to the photographs I capture, using innovative techniques and a lifetime of getting to know the subjects that allow me to get respectfully and intimately close to lions, elephants and great white sharks, to name a few.

And I guess one of the biggest challenges is balancing trying to get photographs and at the same time remaining unemotionally attached. So, while still always in the back of your mind knowing the very importance of what you are doing, you are ultimately exposing these animals for people all around the world to see, appreciate, and hopefully become ambassadors for the future of conservation.

CNN: What advice can you share with wildlife photographers and photographers in general?

Fallows: My advice to any young person starting out on a photographic career is it’s really most important to follow your passion – whether it’s photographing flowers, insects, snakes or sharks – really focus on that which you’re most passionate about because passion ultimately fuels you every morning and makes you get up, makes you want to be out there.

And then really, follow your heart, follow the course that you’ve chosen, and success will generally come with that. I really believe that as photographers, we, those of us who photograph wildlife, we’ve got a very important duty, and that’s to showcase these animals not only for their beauty but also for the threat they face. It really is our privilege to be out there in the field.

Courtesy Chris Fallows

Fallows photographing sharks underwater.

CNN: What is next for you?

Fallows: Well, it’s been a long journey for me as a wildlife photographer spanning nearly 30 years, from that initial discovery of those flying sharks. The journey has led me to a point where I really want to give back. So, with the proceeds of our fine artwork, my wife and I want to buy large tracts of land in Southern Africa to be rehabilitated and rewilded as our legacy to hopefully leaving this planet in a better way than that which we came into it.

For us, it’s been a journey to a point where hopefully, at the end of the day, our artwork that sits on people’s walls and offices and exhibitions around the world will be, most importantly, a way to give back to the very animals that gave us the privilege to see them in the first place.