Eric Cheng

Artist Statement

Eric Cheng became a certified SCUBA diver in 1995 and first took a camera underwater in 2001. Since that first dip with a camera, he has become a widely-published, award-winning underwater photographer known worldwide for his passion as an educator. In 2003, Eric was awarded a prestigious Antibes Festival award for his work with his website, Wetpixel.com, and in 2005, he won a category in the prestigious Nature's Best Magazine photo competition, which has placed some of his work in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.

Caught between technical and creative worlds, Eric holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from Stanford University, where he also studied classical cello performance.

In Eric's underwater imagery, he strives to juxtapose the often-unimaginable forms and colors of marine animals with stories of natural history and animal behavior. By capturing both abstract and representational reefscapes and animal portraits, he hopes to share the incredible beauty and fragility of the vast ocean ecosystem with others, hopefully inspiring a greater interest in celebrating and conserving the threatened global resource.

Eric is the editor and publisher of Wetpixel.com, the premiere online community for underwater photographers. Hosting thousands registered underwater photographers internationally, Wetpixel's community website offers breaking news, reviews, features, community forums, image galleries, photo contests, and photo expeditions.

In 2007, Eric launched Wetpixel Quarterly, a landscape print magazine featuring the best in underwater photography. In both online and print endeavors, Eric strives to provides a forum for photographers to share their work and discuss ocean-related issues, and in turn, educate viewers about the beauty and fragility of the marine ecosystem.

Eric also leads regular photography expeditions to remote locations around the world. He is deeply involved in ocean conservation, and is technical advisor and photographer for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Eric's underwater images can be found on his personal website:
http://echeng.com/photo/