Vanessa Mignon

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated and captivated by the natural world and its wildlife. I have a special affinity with the oceans. I was born in Brittany, in the West of France, and spent most of my childhood on the beaches of that wild coast. And, with my 2 grandfathers in the navy, I grew up listening to amazing travelling tales who captured my imagination. I got my first SLR camera at the end of 2009 and a few months later bought an underwater housing. Since then I have been very fortunate to travel to remote locations and witness amazing wildlife spectacles including the Manta feeding vortex in the Maldives, Whale sharks feeding frenzy in West Papua or Humpback whales courting behaviour in the Kingdom of Tonga. During those trips I met passionate people committed to protect those creatures and their environments. Their devotion was inspiring. I became very keen and focused on sharing the beauty of the world around us and hopefully playing a part in protecting it. I hope that my photography and experience sharing can inspire others and increase people awareness of how diverse and beautiful nature is, and how essential it is to protect it. There is so much at stake, and we all play a part in protecting the world we live in. I am very fortunate that I get to travel a bit as I organise and guide wildlife trips in Africa and also around the world to swim with whales. I enjoy sharing those special wildlife encounters with people.