For more than seven years Wolcott Henry has been a professional underwater photographer. Pursuing a passion for the marine environment through his photography, Henry focuses on capturing the essence of the reef’s “celebrities” on film. He also spends considerable time both above and underwater shooting examples of human impacts on the reefs (see below). Trained in sports photography, Henry uses many of the same techniques today as he travels around the world with the goal of using his images to inspire others to join in the effort to protect the ocean’s unique and special wildlife.

As a contract photographer for the National Geographic Society (NGS), Henry has collaborated with Dr. Sylvia Earle on three marine photography books. He is a co-author with Dr. Earle and lead photographer of a book on the U.S. National Marine Sanctuary system titled Wild Ocean, and he provided the images for two children's books called Hello, Fish and Sea Critters also written by Dr. Earle. Another children’s book called Little Monsters is scheduled to be released in 2005. The Image Collection at NGS and Getty Images currently represent many of his images. In addition, over the past year, he has been pioneering digital underwater photography using a housing specially built for Nikon’s D1x professional camera by Seacam (seacam.com)

Henry’s images have appeared in various magazines including Time, Mother Jones, Ocean’s Illustrated, Rodale’s Scuba, and most recently, Foundation News. Last year his images were also used for a front-page article in the San Francisco Chronicle. Many nonprofit publications, including many annual reports, have used his images extensively.

Henry has worked with other photographers and a website team to create a web site for high quality images of human impacts on the marine environment with an emphasis on coral reefs. The site is called Marine Photobank (www.marinephotobank.org). The idea came from years of seeing low quality images of this type used in non profit publications that lack the ability to inspire conservation as well as they should. This web site is the outgrowth of an interest over the years in what he calls “conservation photography", an emerging area of nature photography that blends the beauty of nature with harmful human impacts, and what is being done to protect the environment.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore, NOAA’s Year of the Reef Symposium, the Explorer’s Club in New York, and a number of nonprofit groups have exhibited Henry's images, including a current exhibit at the World Wildlife Fund headquarters in Washington, DC. He is available for lectures on his work and underwater photography. Recent speaking engagements include the Explorer’s Club in Washington, D.C. and the World Wildlife Fund. The video clips and certain images can be found at www.worldwildlife.org/lectures. Outdoor Life Network's documentary “Nature's Best Photography" and a television show in the Philippines on underwater photography and marine conservation also featured Henry and his images.

His professional affiliations include the Explorer’s Club in New York, and NANPA (the North American Nature Photographers Association). He is a director of the World Wildlife Fund and Diver’s Alert Network, along with serving on numerous advisory boards focusing on marine issues. He has spent his photographic career diving in the western Pacific, Caribbean, Brazil, and the Galapagos Islands, along with various locations around the United States.