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Philippines - Heart of the Ocean’ wins the Palme d'Or International
Prize for Best Book of the Year :
Sample Images
Michael AW’s
‘Philippines - Heart of the Ocean’ wins the Palme d'Or International
Prize for Best Book of the Year at the World Underwater Pictures
Festival (Festival
Mondial de l'Image Sous Marine). The artistic book of the sea
category yielded entries from a host of international authors and
photographers including books published by media powerhouses from
UK, Germany, USA and France, but it was “Heart of the Ocean” that
received the Palme d'Or (Gold) award at the gala award ceremony of
the world’s most prestigious underwater imagery festival of the
ocean on the evening of 31 Oct at Palias du Pharo, Marseilles.
‘Heart
of the Ocean’ took seven expeditions to complete; to date this is
Singapore born Michael AW’s most inspiring book - his 26th
sole authored book of the sea. Enchanted by the richness of the
Coral Triangle and the splendour of the Philippines’ underwater
heritage, Michael has captured in this book the very essence and
opulence of the global centre of marine diversity in the most
fascinating and finest detail ever published in one volume. This
is the first win for a book featuring the Coral Triangle.
Celebrating the arts of nature and the wonders of biological
science, this production reveals the usual suspects of coral reefs,
the pelagic zone, inshore and fringing reefs, with the oceanic
atolls and several unusual open water and deep sea creatures.
‘Heart
of the Ocean’ reveals the secrets and mysteries within the three
deep basins under the sea near the equator, surrounded by the
islands that make up Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The
shallow waters surrounding the Banda, Celebes, and Sulu Seas contain
more different species of marine animal life than any other place on
earth. The Celebes and Sulu Seas have some of the deepest waters, up
to 5km deep. These deep seas, isolated from the world’s oceans,
have never been exposed to, or mixed with the cold Antarctic bottom
water which chills the deep water in all the oceans of the planet.
Moreover, being near the equator, the Celebes and Sulu Seas even at
great depths, have the warmest water left on the planet. A Miocene
like relic, they could be thought of as incubators or perhaps the
ancient heart of the ocean. During the Inner Space Speciation
Project, with the legendary explorer Emory Kristoff, Michael AW was
able to capture images of deep and open sea animals that live beyond
the 60m depth. Many of these images expose new exotic animals that
no one has ever seen before.
Philippines - ‘Heart of the Ocean’ is more than just a coffee table
book that showcases the creative talents of Michael, a dedicated
marine conservationist, photographer and writer. His photographic
experience, knowledge of the ocean and enthusiasm is reflected in
the beauty of the ‘Heart of the Ocean.’ A Fellow of the Explorer
Club, New York and also a Fellow of the International League of
Conservation Photographers (ILCP), he brings together elegantly, a
repertoire of images that vigorously expose the
extraterrestrial-like beauty of underwater life in an extraordinary
perspective. Many of these pictures have been selected for archival
fine art collections and limited edition reproduction. A trailer of
this production won the SILVER DIVER AWARD at the same festival last
year - 2008 World Underwater Pictures Festival in France.
Illustrated with exceptional images and detailed descriptions, the
book guides you through the highlights of the Philippines’ exquisite
underwater richness. The images give us an insight into the Inner
Space that very few of us will ever be fortunate enough to
experience. As a passionate conservationist Michael was
instrumental in Her Excellency President Gloria Arroyo declaring
June as the ‘Celebrate the Sea’ month and every second Sunday in
June as ‘Celebrate the Sea’ day and is so penned in the book’s
‘Foreword. ‘
‘Philippines – Heart of the Ocean’ is a superb production printed
on 180gsm fine art paper using six-colour printing technology by
ColourScan Singapore, renowned for its high quality and multi-ward
winning standards. Though the book has made its debut at a few
events in 2009, it will be launched at Ocean Geographic’s Gift from
the Sea exhibition at L2 Space Gallery in Singapore on 20 November
and available at all good bookshops from 21 November 2009. Author
autographed limited edition copies can be ordered from
one@oneocean.com
at USD150, international air freight included. * for Singapore and
Australian resident without international freight – S$120 and A$120
respectively. A selection of images from “Heart of the Ocean” will
be produced in archival fine art prints and canvases for discerning
collectors.
Part
of the proceeds from the limited edition is designated for
OceanNEnvironment’s “SAVE OUR SEAS” fund to support research and
conservation projects in the Asia Pacific. The limited edition
production is endorsed by President Gloria Arroyo and supported by
Secretary Durano and Under Secretary Cynthia Carrion from the
Department of Tourism Philippines.
To order autograph copy email
one@oneocean.com
About
the World Underwater Pictures Festival - Marseilles
2009 is
the 36th year of the festival - the underwater imagery
equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival. Since its inception in 1973,
the festival was staged for 35 years in Antibes, Nice but Marseilles
successfully bid for the right to stage the event in 2009. Many of
the world’s most celebrated documentaries from National Geographic,
NHK, Australian ABC and BBC are past winners including the “Blue
Planet”, Planet Earth, Shallow Sea, and this year another of BBC’s
production, ‘The Changing Tide” won the prestigious Palme d'Or for
feature documentary. Past international luminaries at the festival
include Jacques Yves Cousteau, Hans Hass, David Doubilet, Sylvie
Earle, Phil Nuytten, Valerie Taylor to name but a few.
Michael
AW is a resident of the Hill District in NSW, Australia and as well
as at Balmoral Park Singapore. For information and interviews
email:
one@oneocean.com
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