For those unwilling to don a wetsuit and scuba gear to learn more about the mysteries of the ocean\u2019s depths \u2014 in other words, most people \u2014 there\u2019s a very compelling alternative: ocean photography exhibits like the one opening on Friday this week and running through May 17 at Alameda Point\u2019s Hangar 41.<\/p>\n
The collection of photos, chosen by Oceanographic magazine in their \u201cOcean Photographer of the Year\u201d competition, promises to transform Hangar 41 on the former U.S. Navy base now known as Alameda Point \u201cinto an immersive celebration of the beauty, power and fragility of our glorious, blue planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hosted by the West End Arts District, the exhibit is not only a showcase for spectacular undersea shots but also an opportunity to learn about the photographers themselves \u2014 a group dedicated not only to their work but to the oceans\u2019 future.<\/p>\n
The lofty goal of the exhibit is to interest viewers in oceanic environmentalism \u2014 a tall order, says Tara Pilbrow, the Alameda-based West End Arts District\u2019s executive director, because \u201cmost people have little or no connection to the sea.\u201d She says this lack of familiarity begins at home in Alameda, an island surrounded mostly by the San Francisco Bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the problems with generating interest in the bay is its murky perception. The water, specifically in the bay, is this very opaque surface, and most of us just see an opaque surface and that\u2019s where it stops,\u201d says Pilbrow.<\/p>\n
To entice people to take a deeper dive, she says one of the main goals of the exhibit \u201cis to try and activate the imagination of what is below the opaque surface so that when somebody is imagining their world, they\u2019re seeing detail on both sides of that line rather than a world that exists above and stops at the bluish-gray surface.<\/p>\n
\u201cFundamentally, it\u2019s very difficult to care about and want to steward something that we don\u2019t see and don\u2019t understand,\u201d says Pilbrow.<\/p>\n
The Hangar 41 show features 116 photos chosen from 15,000 taken by photographers all over the world in the featured categories of Wildlife, Fine Art, Adventure, Conservation, Human Connection, Young Photographer of the Year and the Female Fifty Fathoms Award, an award honoring women ocean photographers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin the various sections, you come in and out of the water,\u201d says Pilbrow. \u201cIn the section called \u2018Conservation Hope,\u2019 there are images of scientists trying to grow a heat-resistant coral in petri dishes in a laboratory, not in the ocean. And then there are trawling ships and fishing villages \u2014 people in their relationship with the ocean. So there\u2019s quite a broad range, but it\u2019s all telling the ocean story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pilbrow is the first to acknowledge that the discussion of the impact of climate change can become too unpleasant for some.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a preachy element of understanding the impact of climate change, but there\u2019s also a hugely important element of just opening people\u2019s curiosity to understand what\u2019s under there. And in many ways, when you open that door, then people keep going by themselves,\u201d says Pilbrow.<\/p>\n
Daryl Karp, the Australian National Maritime Museum\u2019s director, says \u201cthe stories behind these photographs are as compelling as the visuals themselves \u2014 they challenge us to see the ocean not just as a place of wonder but as a world in need of our care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among photos of all the undersea activity, the exhibit includes one depicting six enormous whales and a human without dive gear on.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just there in the middle of this huge group of whales at a respectful distance sitting and staring at them,\u201d says Pilbrow. \u201cThe wonderful thing about that image is just placing us in that context and giving a sense of scale of the immensity of what\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balancing these uplifting shots are the not-so-uplifting \u2014 like the suffocated sea turtle covered in plastic packaging, a victim of overconsumption and the pollution it brings. Another stark image depicts a shark swimming above an abandoned toilet bowl.<\/p>\n
In addition to the photos, adjacent exhibits will feature storytelling from the San Francisco Estuary Institute, sea-inspired performances by cellist Mia Pixley, a sunset photo cruise and a May 15 presentation by Josie Iselin on her new book, the \u201cThe Mysterious World of the Bull Kelp Forest\u201d (bit.ly\/41N6gka<\/a>).<\/p>\n Founder of the \u201cNorthern California Kelp Festival,\u201d Iselin is an advocate for the largely untold story of the destruction of Northern California\u2019s kelp forest and its environmental impact. Kelp forests \u201cplay a really huge role in terms of protecting environment and creating habitat for animals, and they\u2019ve been massively destroyed,\u201d says Pilbrow.<\/p>\n For more information and tickets to the exhibit and events starting Friday, visit westendartsdistrict.org\/ocean-photographer-of-the-year-alameda<\/a> online. To view the exhibit\u2019s photos, go to bit.ly\/4cotG5p<\/a>.<\/p>\n