Art from 'down under' The Toronto Star December. 2, 2002 JANICE
MAWHINNEY - LIFE WRITER But at least James Mathias doesn't have to confront the dreaded gray slush of a Toronto winter. "I don't like the cold, but it's the mush and slush I hate more than anything," he says. "I prefer a bathing suit to a snowsuit." So he's chosen a line of work that fits those tastes. Mathias, 59, is an underwater photo artist. He's happy to spend spring, summer and fall working in the gardens at his home in Scugog Township near Uxbridge. But 10 days ago he left in search of faraway coral reefs to photograph. He has taken underwater pictures in the Caribbean, Tahiti, Bonaire, New Guinea, the Galapagos, New Zealand and other places. But these days, he winters in Fiji, spending a lot of his time taking pictures 50 feet under in the Koro Sea. He'll lose himself in flickering schools of flashlight fish, the lightning bugs of the deep, and feel overcome with wonder at the brilliant, exotic colours and graceful shapes and movement of all the life under the sea. Sponges, to Mathias, don't hint at dishwashing or other irritating household chores. They are gorgeous living creatures in naturally artistic clusters, waving their branches gently as he swims by. Fish don't come with chips, salt and vinegar they swim around him by the hundreds, red-gold lionfish, dramatic dark batfish, raindrop-shaped glassy sweepers, surgeon fish in black, yellow, blue and white, a variety of shapes and sizes and colours. And there is Mathias, decked out in wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins, aiming his 15-kilogram camera and underwater strobe lights, hoping for a picture that will make you catch your breath. "I'm not really a photographer. I'm an artist using film as my canvas and underwater lights as my paint," he says. "I didn't even know what depth of field was when I started taking pictures underwater. I just try to throw light on the subject in an interesting manner." Mathias has no control over the circumstances around his pictures. He can't control the weather, or the currents, or the movement of the sea creatures. He can only be in the right place at the right time, prepared to get an amazing picture if an opportunity arises. "Little accidents happen all the time, and some are happy ones," he observes. "Some shots have magic, and I'll have no idea how this happened." Mathias has had enough such happy accidents and magical underwater moments captured, though, that he has been invited to exhibit at the World Festival of Underwater Images in Nice, France, twice in 1999 and 2001. He was raised in Port Credit. Both of his parents died when he was 19. An adult friend invested Mathias' inheritance for him, and instead of going to university, he travelled the world. He studied art in the galleries of the countries he stayed in, and took in whatever he could from the cultures he was exposed to. "I'm self-educated," he says. "There's so much to absorb in this world and you learn from every experience. Everything I touch, I want to know more. I've taken in bits and pieces from here and there everywhere I've been." Mathias discovered the world beneath the sea after he was in an automobile accident in New Zealand. "I asked the doctor what would be a good exercise for recovering, and he said snorkelling would be very good," he recalls. "I went snorkelling in Tahiti and I saw people in scuba tanks. I wanted to do that." He went to the Caribbean and learned to dive, eventually becoming certified in Puerto Rico. "I had never realized how fantastic it could be. I don't think anyone does until they get underwater. For the next 10 years, I wandered these exotic places full of exotic creatures." But in the time when Mathias wasn't scuba diving, he was partying, and his drinking became a concern to him. "I was 39 years old," he says. "I reassessed myself, and went to Donwood (Institute) for a month to sober up." He hasn't had a drink in 20 years. During his treatment, Donwood staff suggested that he learn to do underwater photography as part of a new focus for his life. The idea resonated with Mathias. He flew to Bonaire, an island off Venezuela, and studied with a couple there who are accomplished underwater photographers. Mathias then planned his travels around his photography. One of his greatest thrills occurred 10 years ago. "I had the opportunity to jump off a boat first where no one had ever been," he says. "It was off the coast of New Guinea, near Milne Bay. "I was there for three months altogether. That part of the world the Indo-Pacific is the best for diving. All those islands it's phenomenal for creatures, big creatures, little creatures. It's marvellous." A few years ago, he explored the reefs of Fiji's outer islands. He's spent time in Fiji every year since, staying four months last year, enjoying the friendships he has established. "I have no family, and these people feel genuine affection for me," he says. Fiji is beautiful, and well-located for travelling to good locations for underwater photography, he adds. "Tahiti's a couple of hours away and New Zealand is easy to get to," Mathias notes. "And in Fiji, their dollar is even lower than ours." He also appreciates the more relaxed social atmosphere. "People here in Toronto walk right past you with their eyes downcast. In Fiji, people look you straight in the eye, smile broadly and say bula, which means, `Hi, how are you, good to see you.' I find people there so warm and friendly." Mathias has dived from the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace ship bombed in 1985. He has bumped sharks out of the way. He has fed a grouper he says was the size of a small Volkswagen. "I've seen huge volcanic vents underwater, puffing up stuff," he recalls. He has also become lost in schools of thousands of fish, unable to see anything anywhere but fish going in all directions. And his camera has been attacked by an ocean trigger fish, which has teeth big enough to break someone's arm. Recently, Mathias has become concerned about preserving the coral reefs and the life in and around them because he has seen signs of damage that he finds disturbing. "The underwater environment has changed drastically, partly from pollution and global warming, and partly from mass tourism." He notices beautiful clusters of sponges with branches broken from being hit by divers' fins. Coral is dying, leaving large sections bleached of colour. There are areas around Fiji where there are only small fish left, since all of the large fish have been caught to feed tourists. "You have to go all the way to the outer reefs now to see reef fish," Mathias says. He hopes to use his photographs to catch public interest in the subject, and educate people about the need to preserve the underwater environment. Meanwhile, he's settling in back at his winter base in Fiji. Everything he photographs has importance, he says. "Every tiny sea creature has a purpose." |
