Meet David Fleetham

Peter Rowlands · Issue 124, Jan/Feb 2022 · pp. 31–34

Products mentioned: Canon F-1, Canon EOS D60, Canon EOS 5D Mk III, Canon EOS 5D Mk II, Canon EOS R5, Ikelite housing, Ikelite Dry Lock housing, Ikelite DS161 strobes, Minolta SLR

Did diving and underwater photography start together? I was certified in Ontario, Canada in 1976 during my last year of High School. Once out I met my best friend in Carriacou a small island off Grenada. Before I left I knew I had to record what was underwater so I ordered an Ikelite housing for a Minolta SLR and shot what I could in the Caribbean for the next three months. Was there a lightbulb moment when you thought ‘This is for me’? The moment I first breathed underwater I knew this was for me. And that was just in a pool! Have you always worked or been associated with the dive business? I moved out to the West Coast of Canada to look into becoming a marine biologist (as do all teenagers bitten by the scuba bug) and had to drive by two dive shops in Vancouver on my way to the University of British Columbia. I knocked on both doors and was hired by Gary Mallendar who now owns Oceaner …