tells 60 Minutes Overtime on CBS.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018A Photograph That Changed My Life\u2019 <\/p>\n
His best known image Air Jaws helped establish his reputation. The black-and-white photograph shows a great white shark breaching with its jaws open and teeth visible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d been towing a [seal-shaped] decoy for around about an hour already, not having much success. But just something said to me, just keep your concentration and keep focused,\u201d the photographer tells 60 Minutes Overtime. <\/p>\n
He describes how a shark breached suddenly, and Fallows captured the moment. The sequence lasted about seven seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it was in the days of film. [I couldn\u2019t] look on the back of the camera and see if I\u2019d nailed it,\u201d Fallows says. \u201cI waited the whole weekend, not knowing whether I\u2019d kind of over-imagined this incredible image, whether it was going to be sharp\u2026 [on Monday] I walked into the lab, everybody was clapping.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a photograph that changed my life, and it gave me a fantastic start with my photography. And it\u2026 epitomizes the power and, I guess, predatory prowess of this incredible animal,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
Fallows later continued photographing great white sharks along the Cape Town coastline. At times, he entered the water without a cage \u2014 with the help of his wife Monique Fallows \u2014 to capture images from below as the sharks passed.<\/p>\n
\u2018How Fragile Our Planet is\u2019 <\/p>\n
However, about 10 years ago, Fallows says the population of great white sharks in False Bay began to decline sharply. Sightings dropped, and tourism connected to shark viewing also decreased. Scientists and conservationists continue to debate the reasons, but there is broad agreement that the sharks that once regularly appeared in the area are now largely gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really showed to me just how fragile our planet is,\u201d Fallows tells 60 Minutes Overtime. \u201cIt affected me very deeply, but it was also a catalyst to doing what I do today, to try and showcase what I\u2019ve been so privileged to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
While describing the loss as \u201ctragic,\u201d he also pointed to signs of recovery in other marine species. He highlighted the return of humpback whales following the International Whaling Commission\u2019s 1985 moratorium on commercial whaling. He says he has observed large groups of whales off South Africa\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now see groups of 150 or 200 together,\u201d Fallows explains. \u201cAnd there can probably be no more sensorial experience than photographing [them]\u2026 You smell them, you see them, you hear them, you feel the whale\u2019s breath on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey touch you very deeply\u2026 It\u2019s truly incredible to be in the company of the largest creatures on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fallows and his wife have used proceeds from his photography to support conservation work. In 2017, they purchased 61 acres in Cape Infanta for habitat restoration. They are also working to acquire a 26,500-acre property in Namibia to expand wildlife corridors and restore ecosystems. He emphasized the role individuals can play in environmental protection, urging people to take responsibility for their local surroundings.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t throw plastic in the water\u2026 I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve seen animals wrapped in plastic,\u201d he said. \u201cAll life depends on another form of life,\u201d Fallows tells 60 Minutes Overtime. <\/p>\n
\u201cGreat white sharks, elephants, lions, penguins, they all have their own little families and ecosystems in which they live\u2026 treat them with respect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wildlife photographer Chris Fallows, known for his striking images of great white sharks in False Bay, spoke with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[187326,187327,187328,85,46,141,12703,386,68540],"class_list":{"0":"post-394008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-60minutes","9":"tag-chrisfallows","10":"tag-greatwhiteshark","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-shark","15":"tag-wildlife","16":"tag-wildlifephotographer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}