Scoones, Peter

Peter Scoones is a legend in the rarified world of underwater cinematographers. An Emmyaward winning underwater photographer (The Great White Shark and Blue Planet) and a threetimewinner of the Palm D’or at the Antibes Film Festival, Peter’s incredible career as an underwaterphotographer, film maker, and equipment designer began when he learned to dive offSingapore while serving in the Royal Air Force. He maintains that his first dive in 1959 was hisbest, and it inspired him to construct both his own aqua lungs and his first underwater housing.His first feature film “Breathless Moments” won a gold medal at the first Brighton Film Festivalin 1965 and shortly thereafter, he and Colin Doeg cofounded the renowned British Society ofUnderwater Photographers. Building on his rare ability to both visualize the images he wants toshare and construct the technology to make those images, Peter co-founded a production companyand developed low-light inspection cameras for the offshore oil industry. This experiencebrought him a “knock on the door” from Sir David Attenborough who wanted for the first time tofilm a live coelacanth in the deep waters off Comoros Island for the BBCs ‘Life on Earth’ series.Since then, Peter and his partner Georgette Douwma have worked extensively with the BBCNatural History Unit, making both the images and the equipment for films such as ‘Antarctica:Life in the Freezer’, ‘The Great White Shark’, and‘Blue Planet’. He also developed the HDsystems used for ‘Planet Earth’, ‘Galapagos’, and ‘Life’. Fifty-one years after that first dive in theFar East, Peter retains his passion for diving and film-making and is actively pursuing newprojects in the Red Sea, Maldives, and Indonesia. We’re honored to have him join us in one ofhis rare U.S. appearances, and we are fortunate that his schedule permitted him a brief breakfrom his demanding film projects.