The Bahamas

Isn’t this sharp beautiful? In the Bahamas, she is called “Queen” and she is big, confident and absolutely gorgeous. I had to giggle when she barreled right through this small school of jacks, just for the fun of watching them scatter! Sharks may be the most misunderstood and maligned animals in the world; I hope that my art inspires compassion for them and the underwater ecosystems where they have fundamental roles to play as part of a larger whole. We can not have healthy oceans without sharks, and we must do more to protect them.

​-Cristina Mittermeier

The Bahamas

Finding your voice” as a photographer is easier said than done. For me, the “aha” moment finally came when I realized that my best work, or at least the work I enjoy doing the most, occurs when storytelling and fine art come together in the same image. I want my photographs to serve as invitation into deeper conversations; their design is to be beautiful, their purpose to provide questions.

That is when I know that my art is successful; when somebody from my audience, even if it is just one person, reaches beyond the frame of the photograph. When you look at this image, do you wonder where this stingray is going, or what it must have felt like to swim in that crystal clear water? What sort of spectator are you; do you need your questions answered, or do you prefer to let them rest in the mystery and beauty of the moment?

​-Cristina Mittermeier

The Bahamas

A hammerhead shark swims at the bottom of the ocean floor.

The Bahamas

They scour the reefs in hungry droves, hoping to flush out an unlucky fish from its coral sanctuary. They exuded a prehistoric kind of intelligence, an ancient wisdom that has allowed their species to survive for hundreds of thousands of years and I felt deep respect for these misunderstood beings.

​-Cristina Mittermeier

The Bahamas

“I love paying attention to patterns that might make an image an interesting abstract, so when I spotted this sleeping lemon shark on a bed of sand rippled by the strong currents, I saw an opportunity for a study in poetic symmetry.”

-Cristina Mittermeier

Galapagos Islands

The shadowy fleet moved silently above me, tails swaying as they crept below the surface. I felt no fear as I watched their patrol, only a rising thrill and wonder at the rich biodiversity of the waters surrounding the beautiful Galápagos islands.

​-Cristina Mittermeier

Galapagos Islands

“Holding my breath to not give my precarious position away as I waiting for this hammerhead shark to swim overhead, I noticed the beautiful pattern created by the fish as they formed a living curtain; a veil between the shark in the distance and my camera lens.”
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-Cristina Mittermeier

Galapagos Islands

“Off the shores of the Galápagos, my partner Paul and I were pursuing a school of Salema fish in the warm shallows when a sea turtle suddenly sprang into view, scattering the shoal in panicked bursts of silver. I quickly snapped this photo and delighted in the explosion of life around me.”

– Cristina Mittermeier

Galapagos Islands

The silhouettes of tropical fish dance beneath the crashing surf, poised tenuously along the reef where the ocean’s mountainous waves finally topple and recede to become part of the sea once more.