20 Print Limited Edition
Dimensions: 43” X 75” (to-scale)
Editions: 1-5 3,200 (USD) Contact us for current availability
Our limited edition prints are produced with the Epson 9600 archival inkjet/Giclee printer. Print includes archival mounting on 3/16 inch acid free foam core and archival UV lamination. Free delivery within 75 miles. Please contact our studio for crating and shipping costs outside of the Santa Cruz, CA area.
Day 64, 2006
Having worked two seasons in the field with these creatures, combined with eighteen months of planning and securing funding, it all came down to a brief half second moment with this three week old Humpback Whale Calf, where I produced my first successful to-scale photograph of a whale.
For nearly twenty minutes the mother and her calf glided around us, each time bringing her calf a little closer. Upon her final close pass, her calf, who we named Mozart, swam up to me a mere arm’s length away. The calf gently rubbed his pectoral fin on my thigh and delicately spun me around. With my back to the whale, the calf gently continued his course swimming by. When his fluke reached my back, the three week old whale calf aimed it away from me before his next power stroke. I was humbled by this newborn being so aware of his body in relationship to my relatively fragile body, possessing the mindfulness to not bring me intentional or accidental harm.
This is my first successful to-scale photograph of a whale and I hold much gratitude for that moment. For years, my vision has been carried around inside my mind as I worked to the best of my abilities to communicate this unexplored process to foundations, donors, and collectors of my work. In the end, I sold everything I owned and left my full-time job to make this humble beginning a reality.
Although this image does not represent my ultimate envisioned photographs reaching dimensions up to fifteen feet high by ninety feet wide, Mozart gave me an opportunity to share a glimpse of my vision with others in a way that defies words. His gift to me will allow my work to continue so that one day it will reach and inspire unexplored thoughts and emotions from countries that continue to hunt these creatures.
--Bryant Austin
