All images © Keri Muller
Keri Muller lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with False Bay’s kelp forests a mere scamper away. This allows her to spend many hours freediving and snorkelling in this pristine ecosystem. She started shooting underwater about seven years ago, first with a trusty Olympus TG and now with a Canon R + 16mm pancake lens in an Ikelite housing. Recent trips to the Red Sea and Raja Ampat have been incredibly inspiring, testing her skills in tropical environments that are so different from her home habitat.
"We’re all anonymous and bound together by water."
Mangrove Ecosystems
I was enchanted by the mangroves in Raja Ampat, where corals meet the root systems and provide the most beautiful (and practical) fish nurseries.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Citrus reef, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Fan in the Trees
These magnificent fans flourish on a ledge under an overhang covered in trees. I love how the trees and sky collude with the reef to create an abstract scene.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Friwen Wall, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Green Waterfall
I love underwater topography, and this gigantic green coral blew my mind. The image doesn’t do justice to the size of it.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Gabr el Bint, Red Sea, Egypt
Galaxy Drift
Swarms of jellyfish – and if we’re lucky, interesting salps – often get pushed inshore in summer, when Cape Town’s famed ‘Cape Doctor’ wind blows. Drifting in particulates, this jelly looks as though it’s hurtling through space.
Canon R with 16mm lens
False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
King of the Fans
Everything about this image, from the colours to the fish dancing in the fan, makes me very happy.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Fam islands, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Kelp Forest
This is where I spend a great deal of time, immersed in an ever-shifting 3D world. This day delivered perfect conditions: no swell movement, no wind, and lashings of sun. This allowed me to capture a portrait of the kelp forest, as though it were a still-life.
Canon R with 16mm lens
False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
Seal Swing
There are few things more joyous than watching Cape fur seals pirouette and glide in the kelp forest. Sadly, these endemic animals have been ravaged by an unprecedented rabies outbreak, so dancing with them is now off the cards.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Strawberry rocks, Oudekraal MPA, Cape Town, South Africa
Still-life with Lion Fish
Lion fish have a unique ability to hover over reefs without twitching a muscle. This one was beautifully set up over the corals in the Red Sea, creating the perfect still life.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Dahab house reef, Red Sea, Egypt
Shark Reef
This purple soft coral at Shark Reef in Ras Mohammed National Park in Egypt is iconic. My neighbour who used to be a dive instructor there recognised it immediately. From afar, they resemble large cauliflower forests swaying in the current.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Shark reef, Ras Mohammed National Park, Red Sea, Egypt
Reefscape
Landscape photography is my first love, followed closely by people underwater. This bustling reef resembles a busy metropolitan city, filled with life and backdrops.
Canon R with 16mm lens
Sharm el Sheik, Red Sea, Egypt
A Careful Step
I was pottering around in the shallows of a beautiful mountain rockpool, photographing reeds and reflections when I turned around and saw my friend stepping over rocks to reach the river bank. There is a wonderful vulnerability to this unsteady exit.
Olympus TG-5
Cederberg mountains rockpool, South Africa
SnorkellerI love the vulnerability and beauty of people underwater. We’re all anonymous and bound together by water. There is no posing in this photo – we are all witnesses to secret lives.
Olympus TG-5
Dahab house reef, Red Sea, Egypt
Keri Muller lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with False Bay’s kelp forests a mere scamper away allowing her lots of time to snorkel and freedive. She started shooting underwater about seven years ago, first with a trusty Olympus TG and now with a Canon R in an Ikelite housing. Follow Keri on Instagram @kerimuller.
