The first camera adventure photographer owned was a disposable Kodak panoramic. She took it on camping trips, rationing the 23 pictures she could take by meticulously dividing the frames by the days of the trip.
At 18 years old, she bought her first underwater housing for a pro-level camera and shot images while playing in the surf near her home in Queensland, Australia. Eventually she started photographing听surfers, but realized shooting only one sport was听tiresome. She expanded her repertoire and now shoots rock climbing, BASE jumping, skiing, and freediving. Regularly found in the pages of 黑料吃瓜网, the now 28-year-old's听work can be seen听in countless publications听all over the world.
We caught up with her to talk the about taking pictures while听freediving听and why there aren鈥檛 more women adventure photographers.
OUTSIDE:听What鈥檚 your favorite sport to photograph?听
WRIGHT:听It varies. A lot of people know me for my BASE-jumping work and I do love it, but it鈥檚 hard seeing so many friends lost to the sport and I probably won鈥檛 shoot it for a while with all the recent tragedies. Someone asked me if I鈥檇 stop shooting it all together, but if you lose a friend driving a car, you don鈥檛 stop driving. So I鈥檒l come back to it. I love freediving too. I鈥檝e always loved the ocean and taking it to that next level and am hoping to work on that this year.听
How do you stay in shape to photograph top athletes in such a variety of sports?
It鈥檚 just trying to find time for your fitness. I love rock climbing, but I know I鈥檓 not going to climb any 5.14-rated routes. I don鈥檛 have the time to dedicate to train for that. Often it听depends on the terrain but you can usually hike to a vantage point to shoot, or if I鈥檓 on a really difficult crag I can get on a rope and jug up to get into position. Ultimately it comes down to having good cardio and good strength.
How do you freedive and shoot images?
I鈥檓 restricted to 12 meters with my camera equipment. I prepare my听camera and make sure it鈥檚 technically set. With the water housing you can鈥檛 change things super-fast. Then it comes time to float on the surface, get a breath and head down with the athlete.听
How much time do you have to get a shot while underwater?
If you're pursuing a specific shot, you听just keep going up and down.听At first you head down and you might hang out for a minute. But you get fatigued and after multiple dives you might want to stay down only 10 seconds. You don鈥檛 watch the time, you go with your body. Some days if you aren鈥檛 feeling it, you might only be down there for like 15 seconds or other days you might hang out for a minute or longer. For me,听I always want to be down there听for much longer, but that will take some serious training.听
What are you looking for as far as composition when shooting underwater?
My favorite images tend to be really simplified鈥攁听single figure and the background is almost one tone. I want to capture what the athlete is feeling. Sometimes it is just playing with the water quality, whether it鈥檚 clear or foggy. Other times if we are diving around caves or reefs I have other things to play with.听
What do you like about freediving yourself?
I love the meditation of it. It鈥檚 nice to clear out all the distraction in your life, because if you are distracted, that鈥檚 a factor that makes your dives more difficult. For me being in the water, it鈥檚 like a second home. I feel so calm and relaxed.
Women are breaking all kinds of barriers in adventure sports. There are badass female climbers and skiers, yet there doesn鈥檛 seem to be a lot of women adventure photographers. Is that something you notice? And why aren鈥檛 there more women in the field?
For sure it鈥檚 something I notice. People ask 鈥榃here are the women?鈥 Well we are here. But we are entering a very male-dominated industry. I鈥檓 pretty competitive and stubborn. I want to be up there with the best guys. I want my work to speak for itself. The intimidation can be a factor. I think some people think 鈥業 can鈥檛 run as fast as the guys so I don鈥檛 deserve to be there,鈥 but just own it and keep after it. I鈥檓 28 and see friends having kids and settling down and I know there are some women that haven鈥檛 pursued their career听after having kids. It鈥檚 just a different life choice. Some people call me a trailblazer which makes me uncomfortable because I鈥檓 just doing my own thing. I do think a wave of younger women in their early 20s are coming up and pushing themselves. Perhaps it will just take a little time to see a change in the field. Getting good at photography does take time. And being a freelance photographer is a challenging lifestyle to pursue. I haven't听had听a home for three听and a half years. It does scare a lot of people, not just females but also guys.听