“Make visible the invisible landscapes”: the diving photographer brings out the swallowed worlds

Among his feats of arms: this incredible cliché made in the Péruse, near Ruffec, in counter-complaint (the expression has never made so much sense): an autumn landscape of the surface but taken from the depths.

Or that of pikes encountered in the crystal clear waters of a secret spawning ground fueled by freshwater resurgences. Consequently, The latter caught the eye of the jors of the FInternational summer of film. In addition, underwater photography of Trébeurden, in Brittany. Moreover, They awarded him last year a “silver elm”.

The image is not his job. However, Frédéric Damato is a history-geo teacher at the Charles Coulomb high school in Angoulême. But over time, this emeritus diver, father of three children, metamorphosed into “hydrophilic photographer”. Fascinated by the unknown world, anxious to share its experience. “I like above all make an invisible world visible”.

“Constitute a memory of these landscapes”

To achieve this, he puts on his 8 mm combination, with hood, gloves and slippers. Sleep down gently into “make visible invisible landscapes”: diving the waters, arm -to -arm, connected to a camera equipped with powerful flashes. “The main difficulty in recreating underwater atmospheres is the lack of light”.

Its playground is that of the river and its tributaries. Places of which he does not reveal the addresses to prevent them from being invaded. Above all, he said, not disturbing the ecosystem. Frédéric Damato is as interested in fish and as “aquatic meadows”. “People know the species, but not the landscapes. Underwater, he plays with reflections, composes images in lunar or bucolic colors.

“These photos testify to a state of the world,” he says. Of its fragility too. His almost militant commitment remains amateur: he exhibits, but does not sell anything. In his eyes, underwater photography, “under-represented”, is precious. “I just want to constitute a memory of these landscapes before “make visible invisible landscapes”: diving they change. Or disappear. »»