A couple of years ago, someone asked photographer David Alan Harvey, now 70 and something of a legend, how he feels about the digital age. Here’s how Harvey responded: “The new technology doesn’t phase me a bit. A picture is a picture is a picture, whether it’s on film or digital,” he said. “I had to learn how to use [digital], and the new platforms of online social media…. I’m very comfortable with Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, all that stuff, and the digital age is fine.”
Harvey might have added Instagram to his social media list. In 2011 he joined the mobile photo-sharing site (think Facebook, but picture-centric) and started sharing his images. A prolific and passionate photographer well known for his work with National Geographic and Magnum – two of his photos were sent into space aboard Voyager – he uses Instagram to start conversations about his projects.
This month, Harvey has been making Instagram waves with his latest project – a black-and-white photo essay on the Haenyeo, a group of female free divers in Jeju Island, South Korea who since childhood have been deep diving for seafood, using no scuba equipment. Most of the Haenyeo are over 60; some are in their 80s.
You can follow Harvey’s story with the Haenyo via his Instagram posts from the past week in Jeju. (Click on Comments under each caption to read the conversations.)
Jumping from a fast moving boat, one of 20 women free divers takes the plunge. Some Haenyeo go from boats, some off the rocky beaches on Jeju Island, S Korea. After today the women take a break for a week. They need one. In the next days I will focus on their family lives, geography shots etc. #Haenyeo #SouthKorea #freediving A photo posted by David Alan Harvey (@davidalanharvey) on
A photo posted by David Alan Harvey (@davidalanharvey) on
A photo posted by David Alan Harvey (@davidalanharvey) on
COMMENTS
2 responses to “Aging Divers Make Waves on Instagram”
Gorgeous photographs and lovely story. One beef, though. Since everyone is aging, “older dovers” or “70 and 80-year old divers” would make a better headline.
Ashton, we struggled with that one. With “aging,” we wanted to communicate that these women have been growing older as divers (they started in their teens) – as opposed to being a group of older women who took up diving. So, the choice was somewhat deliberate.
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