David Doubilet

David Doubilet has been called the Audubon of the sea, a master craftsman who combines technology and art to create extravagantly beautiful photographs of coral reefs, shipwrecks, or sharks to make us see the oceans in a new way. Born in New York in 1946, Doubilet first put his Brownie Hawkeye camera in a rubber anesthesiologist’s bag at the age of 12. He has spent over 26,000 hours in the sea creating a window into the hidden world beneath the surface. Today, with over 75 features under his belt, he is the most published photographer working for National Geographic.

Doubilet enters the sea as a journalist, artist, and explorer to document both the beauty and the devastation in our oceans. He believes that photography has the power to educate, honor, humiliate, illuminate, and influence change.

Exploring the world's waters, Doubilet has photographed in the depths of such places as the southwest Pacific, New Zealand, and Scotland, as well as freshwater ecosystems like Botswana's Okavango Delta and Canada's St. Lawrence River. He has photographed stingrays, sponges, and sleeping sharks in the Caribbean, as well as shipwrecks at Pearl Harbor. He is currently documenting the state of coral and climate change, including science and solutions.

He frequently works for National Geographic with his wife and fellow underwater photographer Jennifer Hayes, sharing the highs and lows of the job, from exploding batteries and malaria to luminous coral reefs.

Doubilet is a featured speaker for the National Geographic Live! series, a columnist, contributing editor and author of 12 books, including Light in the Sea, The Kingdom of Coral, and Fish Face. His many prestigious awards include The Academy of Achievement Award and The Lennart Nilsson Award in Scientific Photography. One of his photographs of coral reefs was even sent into space with the Voyager Mission. He was named a Contributing Photographer-in-Residence at the National Geographic and a NOGI Fellow. Doubilet is a member of both the Royal Photographic Society and International Diving Hall of Fame, and is a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Doubilet and Jennifer live in Clayton, New York.