Laurent Ballesta © Caroline Ballesta

Leica Gallery Vienna and Festival La Gacilly-Baden Photo present:

Laurent Ballesta

Artist Talk at the Leica Gallery Vienna in der Seilergasse 14, 1010 Wien.
Free entry
Registration required by e-mail to: festival@lagacilly-baden.photo

FAR FROM THE SKY

Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole and an expert on extreme weather conditions, used to say that “adventure is an explorer’s worst enemy”. For true discoveries can only be made if three conditions are met: thoroughness, planning and preparation. Laurent Ballesta can confirm this. It would be unfair to describe the biologist and professional diver, born in the south of France, as merely an “underwater photographer”. For 30 years, Ballesta has been pushing the limits of his body and the underwater world. His goal is to venture ever a little further into the notorious “Twilight Zone”, where the light fades and the abyss looms.

In 2019, he took part in a 28-day underwater adventure – the maximum permitted duration for this type of deep dive – alongside three other divers, in a vehicle the size of a train compartment. In this extremely cramped space, they ate and slept under pressure equivalent to that found in the depths of the ocean. They breathed a mixture of Heliox – consisting of helium and just under 4% oxygen – and, during their expedition, dived to a depth of 142 metres over a total of 31 dives. These conditions were more akin to a spacewalk on the ISS than a diving expedition.

The combination of passion, research and photography lies at the heart of this photographer’s work; he has made a name for himself alongside other leading figures in the genre, such as Paul Nicklen, David Doubilet and Brian Skerry. With the aim of broadening our understanding, Laurent Ballesta harbours a deep reverence for nature and hopes to inspire action to protect our increasingly fragile underwater world. Although these environments remain inhospitable and mysterious to humans, they are nonetheless indispensable to human life on Earth.

Laurent Ballesta has relied on the highest quality made in Austria for many years: “SEACAM housings are perfectly designed, reliable and ergonomic – unique devices and access-ories I can use effort-less-ly on very deep dives. Trust me, I’ve tried!”