Jonathan Bird

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Jonathan Bird

Jonathan Bird (born 1 March 1969) is an American photographer, cinematographer, director and television host. He is best known for his role as the host of Jonathan Bird's Blue World, a family-friendly underwater exploration program on PBS in the United States. His work is largely underwater in nature.

Underwater photography

Bird learned to scuba dive while in college at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and combined his interest in photography with diving.[1] His first underwater photographs were made in the waters of Massachusetts. He worked as an electrical engineer for several years until leaving his position to pursue underwater photography full time in 1993.[2] He became a freelance underwater photographer, working for magazines including Sport Diver and Skin Diver. His first book, Beneath the North Atlantic, a collection of his favorite images from the waters of New England, was published in 1997 by Tide-mark Press.[3] He is the author of 7 books and his images have appeared in top nature publications including National Geographic Magazine and International Wildlife. He cites David Doubilet, Chris Newbert and Marty Snyderman as photographic influences in his photographic work.

Cinematography

Bird formed Oceanic Research Group, Inc. in 1991 to produce educational ocean-related materials.[4] Oceanic Research Group became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1993. Oceanic Research Group’s first underwater film was produced in 1992 for the educational market and was distributed by AIMS Media, which has since been acquired by Discovery Education. Bird and Oceanic Research Group have made 13 educational films for use in schools about ocean topics since then, the most recent being Sharks: Predators with a Purpose in 2007.[5]

His first television film, Sharks: The Real Story, co-produced with longtime collaborator Art Cohen, was completed in 1995 and aired on PBS. Bird is fond of sharks as a subject matter and has made 5 films about sharks.[6] [7] In 2005, Bird completed his first film for National Geographic Channel, called Sharks: Deep Trouble. His broadcast work has earned Bird 9 Emmy awards and 2 CINE Golden Eagle awards.[8] He cites Howard Hall as a major influence in his cinematography.

Jonathan Bird’s Blue World

The pilot for Jonathan Bird's Blue World was completed in 2001 and shopped around without success for several years. The project was dropped while Bird worked on several broadcast documentaries. In 2007, without a television buyer, the first few episodes were put on the web. After gaining a fan base there, NETA offered Jonathan Bird’s Blue World distribution to U.S. public television.[9] The fourth season has just been completed and will air in 2014. The series is distributed internationally as well. Each episode is broken up into individual segments for release on the Internet.

Personal life

Bird lives in Massachusetts with his wife Christine and two children. He plays guitar in The Wetsuits, a rock band made up of all professional underwater photographers including Michel Gilbert, Danielle Alary, Michael Lawrence, and Paul Cater Deaton.[10] He is a member of the Wyland Ocean Artist Society[11] and is an amateur wine maker.[12]

External links

  1. ↑ WPI
  2. ↑ http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/w13/jonathan-bird.html
  3. ↑ , Beneath The North Atlantic
  4. ↑ http://www.oceanicresearch.org/about/mission.html
  5. ↑ ORG
  6. ↑ http://www.jonathanbird.net/filmsj.html
  7. ↑ http://thatsitmommy.com/2012/12/review-qa-jonathan-birds-blue-world/
  8. ↑ Awards
  9. ↑ NETA Season 1
  10. ↑ The Wetsuits
  11. ↑ Ocean Artist Society
  12. ↑ http://chateauoiseau.blogspot.com/
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