Description
LOCATION: Papua New Guinea
STORY BEHIND THE SHOT: Nestled in the safety of the tentacles of it’s anemone, this tiny clownfish was just begging to be photographed. I’m thankful to the movie Finding Nemo for teaching the world about the relationship between clownfish (“anemonefish” is actually more appropriate) and the anemones in which they live. But as a cartoon, it barely scratched the surface of how fascinating these creatures are, both independently and in their symbiotic relationship. This is a spine-cheek anemonefish (aka maroon clownfish), (Amphiprion biaculeatus) living inside of a bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor).
Countless times, I’ve told the story of the massive bleaching event that overwhelmed Papua New Guinea’s reef, while discussing the image “A Beautiful Tragedy“, and this shares the same details. During the summer that I shot both images, a few anemones bleached, but they all recovered after a few months. During that time, I was able to create images that were both beautiful and alarming, and I have never seen such an event before or since. The normally metallic-green anemones were stark white for a few months, but due to the care of their anemonefish, they all eventually regained their color and began to flourish once more.
I feel this clownfish print compliments A Beautiful Tragedy, but it speaks in an entirely different way. ABT, with it’s bokeh, presents a moodier, almost surreal vision, whereas Bubblicious is a charismatic portrait that connects us directly to the fish, with it’s pint-sized pugnacious stare.
TO PURCHASE AN ALUMINUM PRINT: Bubblicious is quite flexible for cropping into shapes other than it’s original 3:2 horizontal ratio. You may purchase standard horizontal sizes here, but if your space requires a square, or even a vertical crop, contact our design team, and we’ll collaborate on ideas for a custom print.