Fiona Ayerst

Fiona Ayerst is a freelance adventure sport and underwater stills photographer and photo- journalist who has a special interest in sharks. Fiona turned professional in April 2006 after having been practising as an Attorney for twelve years-and she has not looked back since . Fiona has little formal training in photography and is mostly self taught.

What is clear from her photos is that Fiona is passionate about her subjects and especially interested in showing people who don’t manage to get underwater, what is living there. Fiona’s work depicts how her subjects behave and what affects them, thereby bringing the beauty of the oceans to the general public, who may never get a chance to experience this first- hand. Fiona loves working in the mystical and magical places that are our oceans and believes that these places are still, to some extent, sanctuaries- places currently far too rare and hard to find on earth.

Water gives a dreamlike silky quality to images and, being drawn to water, Fiona is intent on pursuing this quality and depicting it through her photos. With this passion for water as a medium foremost in her photos she has won international and local photographic competitions. Fiona’s most prestigious success to date was receiving the award and title of South African Fuji/ Getaway Wildlife Photographer of the year award in 2003.

As can be seen from her photographs, Fiona has a particular interest in sharks. This is not only because she was an Attorney for five years, but more importantly because of the rapidly dwindling shark numbers and her interest in their protection and conservation ! Every year 100 million sharks are killed worldwide mostly for their fins and the rest of the body often tossed overboard as waste. Sharks are interesting and challenging fish to photograph for many reasons, not least of which is their refusal to hang around humans for any length of time (contrary to popular belief). Generally a photographer may only catch a fleeting glimpse of a shark as it rushes away into the blue. If one has the luck and patience to get close enough to photograph one then their muscular lines and colour tones make them incredibly beautiful fish to photograph.They produce magnificent images that people love looking at. Fiona is a founder committee member of an N.G.O called SHARKLIFE. This organisation is involved educating people about the value and beauty of these creatures. One current project Fiona is involved in is the production of a glossy calendar for 2009, full of sharks and perfect for gracing executive walls !

Not only sharks but many of our oceans inhabitants are under threat and it is one of Fiona’s goals that her photographs will tell a story and show what is happening to our oceans.