This archive report was first published on 5 September 2019.
On a mission to promote oceanic wildlife conservation, photographer Jahawi Bertolli has been using his underwater camera to capture the beauty of Lamu Archipelago.
Published on September 5, 2019, at 22:00, Bertolli's documentary film, Lamu Archipelago, was screened at the Nairobi Serena Hotel, showcasing the stunning marine life of the region.
Bertolli's journey into underwater photography began when he borrowed a waterproof GoPro action camera to film a music video in Nairobi. He jumped into the pool and never looked back, enrolling in an underwater camera course in Koh Tao, Thailand, and eventually interning and teaching scuba diving and camera work with an international film production school.
After meeting his partner, Elke Korschen, a Danish beauty who was born and raised in Kenya, Bertolli was inspired to find a project that would allow him to work in Lamu. Together, they created the documentary film, Lamu Archipelago, which showcases the beauty of the archipelago and its inhabitants.
Bertolli's film was part of a larger program to promote his underwater photographs and raise funds for his next underwater film project, which will focus on the humpback whale. The project is a collaboration with Mike Mwangombe, a Kenyan marine mammal expert who has been studying marine wildlife for years.
Mike Mwangombe's journey into marine wildlife conservation began as an IT expert, but he soon found himself working with the Watamu Turtle Watch and the Watamu Marine Association, collecting data on dolphins and eventually discovering the incredible history of the humpback whale.
With the humpback whale population having dwindled to between 300 and 600 in the 1970s, but now numbering over 24,000, Mwangombe believes that if given a chance, nature will restore itself. The duo aims to create a film on the humpback whale from a local Kenyan's perspective and sell their prints to raise funds for the project.
Meanwhile, Bertolli's underwater photo prints, titled Submerge, are on exhibition at the Nairobi Serena Hotel for the next two weeks.
