Interview with Kim Westerskov

Ross Armstrong · Issue 7, Jun/Jul 2002 · pp. 10–13

Products mentioned: Nikonos 5, Nikonos 15mm lens, Canon F-1, Canon 20mm lens, Canon EOS-1, Canon 35-350mm lens, Mark Twain housing, Sea and Sea YS-200 strobe, Ektachrome Elite 100, Ektachrome 100VS, Fujichrome RDP, Velvia, Gitzo tripod

New Zealander Kim Westerskov is the only photographer to have received five first places in the prestigious BBC/British Gas Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. I caught up with Kim at his home in Tauranga to talk about his photographic career. What got you started in underwater photography? I have always liked photography. My parents gave me a camera when I was about eight or ten. I learnt to dive as part of my PhD in marine biology at Otago University - studying oysters. It seemed an obvious thing to try underwater photography and it became an important tool in my research. The marine lab at Portobello had lots of dive gear - and also Nikonos cameras! This was fortunate because I couldn’t afford any - so I borrowed theirs for a decade or more. I’m very grateful to them for this, and also to Bill Ballantine at the Leigh Marine Laboratory for employing me when I was thinking “W…