Underwater Images by Glen Cowans
Above-water Images by Louise Stazzonelli & Glen Cowans
Underwater Videography & Underwater Modelling by Louise Stazzonelli

The above saying, beautifully written on a banner, was once given to me from my wife as a present. Louise felt it summed me up and I guess it is true, my work and my heart do indeed lie in the Ocean, although Louise shares an equally large part of my heart.

The ocean however is a finite space, there is only so much of it and whilst our ancestors considered it to be so huge that they could dump everything in it, they also decided they could take everything they wanted out of it. Today we are just starting to realize that we can no longer take the ocean for granted. Much of this recent acceptance is only a direct result of world fisheries closing down due to lack of fish, or pollution levels in creatures being so high it makes them inedible. Fortunately through the insight of a few, education of the human species as to the beauty and fragility of the ocean has been going on for many decades now and some of us have actually been listening. Let's hope it is not too late...

Those people who inspired me in the first place like Hass, Doubilet, Nakamura and Costeau to mention only a few, have created wondrous movies and images that mesmerize and amaze you about the truly alien world below the ocean surface. 'Down there' is a place where man is clumsy and restricted, it is a place where life tolerates you only when you make the best possible attempts to blend into it.

Through our 'Stock Photography' and 'Contemporary Limited Edition Canvas Prints', my partner Louise and I humbly attempt to follow in the lead of those talented messengers that came before us. Our 'Stock Imagery' is just that, stock images of specific underwater themes that can be used for advertising, journalism, books etc. Louise captures above water images as well as underwater videography and I specialize in the underwater stock photography and 'Contemporary Limited Edition Canvas Prints'.

The 'Contemporary Limited Edition Canvas Prints' are a larger than life selection of photography limited in edition to 50 of each image. The theme is 'the frivolity and beauty of nature underwater'... here nature itself has been the artist and I have simply attempted to capture and reproduce as accurately as possible, nature's masterpieces in a form that can be accepted and admired above water. Every image is printed using the latest archival quality pigment onto canvas. These images intend to show the amazing detail of the minuscule, featuring subjects as diverse as fish only 1cm long, the minute detail of coral, fragile tube worms and anemones or the patterns of fish scales and fins and whilst the list of subjects goes on, it gets bigger all the time as new subjects reveal themselves to me.

Based in Fremantle, Western Australia we have the benefit of the amazing West Australian coastline providing us with an incredibly varied source of underwater life. Much of our work is therefore uniquely Australian however we also strive to visit as many world wide dive locations as possible.

Whilst I have spent over a decade learning and exploring the use of film and transparency underwater, often the colours reflected using film would be subject to the film quality, brand or type used. Today my images are taken with high quality digital equipment and now the stunning colours and textures have simply been reproduced as accurately as possible in a manner that reflects the actual subject as it would appear to us and where nature has performed the creation not film, man or a computer. However at depth we humans see nearly everything as blue/greys and it is only when artificial light is added to the equation that these vibrant colours reveal themselves to us. Traditionally these actual colours vary depending on the light source added or the film media used but now with correct white balance it is possible to capture the colours more accurately than ever before.
That said, even different people see colours in shades and hues that may not be exactly as another would see it, so just what is colour?
The next question could be why even colour at all when as stated previously, at depth everything appears blue or dull pastels? Do fish see the colours that we do not?
My images do not intend to answer these questions, more they intend to remind you that the questions exist.

Hopefully the oceans will remain healthy and full of life... alas if they do not we have only ourselves to blame and it may just be beautiful images captured by a few that remind us of what was once plentiful. That is if there would be anyone left to admire them in a world with poisoned dead oceans, because if so, the world would not be as habitable as it is today.

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