Photographer Wolcott Henry Biography -- National Geographic

Photograph by Wolcott Henry

Photograph courtesy Wolcott Henry

Wolcott Henry is a professional underwater photographer based in Washington, D.C.

Since 1997, as a contract photographer for the National Geographic Society, he has collaborated with renowned oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle to produce three marine photography books. He is a co-author with Earle and lead photographer of a book on the U.S. national marine sanctuary system titled Wild Ocean, and he provided the images for three other books: Hello, Fish; Sea Critters; and Little Monsters, also written by Earle.

Henry's images have appeared in various magazines, including Time, Mother Jones, Oceans Illustrated, Rodale's Scuba Diving, and Foundation News.

He and a team of photographers have created the Marine Photobank Web site, featuring high-quality images of human effects on the marine environment with an emphasis on coral reefs. The site is the outgrowth of Henry's interest over the years in what he calls "conservation photography," an emerging area of nature photography that shows the beauty of nature and the impact (both positive and negative) of human activity.

Henry's work has been exhibited at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, NOAA's Year of the Reef Symposium, the Explorers Club in New York, and a number of events for nonprofit groups. He has lectured on his work and underwater photography around the world.

Henry is a member of the Explorers Club in New York and the North American Nature Photographers Association. He is also certified as a Smithsonian Institution science diver. He has spent most of his photographic career diving primarily in the western Pacific, Caribbean Sea, Brazil, and the Galápagos Islands.

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