Al Hornsby is a special guest that some of us had the opportunity to meet with. He’s a well-known diving and wildlife photographer, dive industry executive, author and environmental advocate.
He says his love for the ocean started at the age of 12, where he learned to dive at Guam, where his family had just moved. But he says his love for all things flora and fauna is thanks to his dad. He tells us the tale of how he once went to the beach and into the ocean and how everything just clicked.
“From then, I knew what I wanted to be doing”
How he then realized that’s what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. However, at that time, it was unusual for one’s profession to be just about capturing the wonderful and majestic creatures below and above the ocean. Usually, you would see writing accompanied by it, in magazines, documentaries, and newspapers. This led him to take up creative writing and photography in college.
“There were not a lot of divers back then but there were writers, filmakers and photographers who dived and started talking abut protecting these beautiful animals and I decided that I wanted to do. So I studied creative writing and photography. So I moved to from Atlanta [where he finished high school and college] for diving”
As mentioned, he writes along with photography. He says “There’s a power in writing. Not only can you feel and experience, but you can also choose what you want the reader to feel and experience, too.” And as if this the session until now wasn’t intriguing and interesting till now, he informs us that upon encountering an animal, he can already see a story starting to form
Hornsby’s photography and magazine assignments lead him to encounter all kinds of animals. From great white sharks to the tiniest little fishes. From big, grizzly bears to elegant deers, he captures them all. On seeing the few photos out of the many, many he’s taken over the years, there was one question that was looming above the class like a dark cloud.
“But isn’t it dangerous?”
“I don’t think I have ever felt unsafe around any of these animals.” Silence. “[Animals] are curious, but accepting. As long as you respect them and the territory they’re in, they’ll respect you back’
That piece of advice, no matter how minuscule it is, was impactful. He, in a couple of sentences, told us that at the end of the day, animals are like us. They have feelings, too. He didn’t come off in a preachy, vegan, kind-of-propaganda way as he tells us to respect animals they’ll respect you quite back. The whole session with Al Horsnby left me leaving the room, rethinking all of my plans for the future. Will my plan for the future spark as much joy for me as photography does for him?