This year, BARE is welcoming Tom St. George as one of its newest ambassadors. Hailing from the United Kingdom originally, St. George has built a career as an underwater photographer by combining his love of travel, media and diving into one collective package.
When St. George turned 30, he moved to New Zealand for a web development job. It was 2001, and the UK resident was embarking on an all-new chapter. Amidst the country’s inspiring natural playgrounds, he took up snowboarding in the winter and diving for the rest of the year.
He spent most of those early days diving for crayfish around the rocky shores of his home in Wellington. Only a short flight or two from the tropical diving of Southeast Asia, he began to venture outward and enjoy some of the richer biodiversity in places like Bali and Thailand.
From an early age St. George was surrounded by cameras, and his father was very into photography. They had a dark room at home, so as a young man, St. George would develop his own black-and-white street photography. He continued to pursue his passion for photo in university until the advent of digital photography, which he initially wasn’t fond of.
“The cameras weren’t that great,” he remembers. “When the digital cameras started to replace film, I kinda lost interest a little—but I rediscovered it through diving. When I was going to Thailand and places and seeing cool stuff, whale sharks, all these exciting things, I wanted to take pictures to show people back home.”
Akin to the rediscovery of a lost passion, St. George credits his underwater exploits for breathing new life—a veritable second wind—into his photography.
“It was combining two things that I loved,” he continues. “I got really into scuba. I was obsessed with it. … I like the silence and getting away from computers, mobile phones and all that day-to-day stuff. When you’re diving, it really is like being in another world.”
Starting out, Tom loved taking pictures of the big, usual suspects: sharks, whale sharks, mantas, etc… He’s still into shooting bigger species, but lately, he’s been more excited about diving caves and caverns and cenotes.
In 2010, just as he was rediscovering photography through the prism of diving, he decided to quit his job. He was fed up with the daily office grind, so he packed up his stuff and hit the road to go diving.
To support the travel/dive habit, he’d freelance for folks in New Zealand building websites, and such. “I was just roaming through Asia as a dive bum,” he remembers.
Everything changed when St. George met his partner, Julia, in Pulau Weh, Indonesia, on a dive trip. As he tells it, the two were the only ones crazy enough to sign up for a 50-meter wreck dive, and they did a number of sketchy dives together.
They fell in love—as fate would have it—one harrowing wreck dive at a time.
She was headed to Malaysia to work on her Dive Master and, not wanting to say goodbye, St. George opted to tag along and earn his Master as well. They’ve been together ever since.
While in Malaysia, St. George discovered muck diving and macro photography. All the while, friends kept inviting the couple to Tulum to cave dive. Their initial plan was to visit Mexico for 3-4 months and take a cave diving course. That was eight years ago, and the couple is still living (and diving) in Tulum. “We fell in love with the cenotes and the caves,” he says.
After completing the cave courses, St. George purchased a GoPro to document he and Julia’s adventures. He shot with his GoPro for a couple years—but the photo itch persisted—so he eventually pulled the trigger, and bought a proper camera and housing. Success and renown would soon follow. For
“I was taking a lot of pictures of cenotes and The Pit,” he explains. “One of the shots won a PADI competition on Instagram and went absolutely viral. That one post kickstarted my underwater photo career.”
These days, the master lensman shoots for the biggest names in the diving industry. Along the way, BARE and Hollis gear has been instrumental in supporting his dive progression. He’s particularly fond of his BARE drysuit, which he uses in both warm and cold aquatic temps.
“I absolutely love my BARE drysuit,” he says. “It’s amazing—it’s the best drysuit I’ve ever owned! I need it for an ice diving trip, so I had to get one off the shelf and it still fits perfectly. You can just tell the quality of it is off the charts. The way it’s put together and the attention to detail is just amazing.”
Learn more about Tom’s work on his website and follow his Instagram at @tom.st.george.
