Philip Hamilton, filmmaker, photographer and author, is best known for his passion and dedication to ocean conservation. He has over thirty years diving and sailing experience and has documented most marine animals on the planet, from the majestic Blue whale to the smallest underwater critters. Philip has a wide and much sought after collection of video footage and stills, which he regularly donates to conservation programmes, scientist work and NGO’s.
Before turning to ocean conservation, Philip had a successful career in finance, specialising primarily in Emerging Markets. He has worked in Latin America, Europe and Asia and held prominent roles and ran multiple businesses at Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, ING-Barings and Dresdner among others.
Philip spent five years working on his first book, ‘Call of The Blue.’ A highly acclaimed ground breaking non-profit project which held its launch under Hope, the Blue Whale in Hintze Hall at London’s Natural History Museum. A second edition is now out to buy.
Philip was a former private pilot and and keen aerial photographer, since the recent developments of drones, he has filmed most places he travels from the air. In 2021, and with the support of WCS Underwater Exploration he started using ROVs. www.wcs.org
He has been featured on TV and in books as well as being quoted in several titles including The Times, GQ Magazine, The Economist and The Guardian. His conservation projects have also been presented on BBC Earth, at the United Nations as well as having generated multimillion views on social media.
His latest achievement is his debut and award winning film, Ocean Souls. An unprecedented collaboration of over 100 filmmakers, 25 scientists as well as several leading experts, Ocean Souls is an emotive cetaceans documentary, showcasing the largest diversity ever seen on film and highlighting new scientific discoveries. The film has already received a number of international awards as well as being listed as a 2021 finalist in several prestigious film festivals around the world. Click here to watch the trailer.
Philip is a director for Ocean Souls Films Ltd, a UK based production company ( www.oceansoulsfilms.com) and also of US based non-profit organisation, Wildlife Media. (www.wildlifemedia.org)
Philip continues to work on new productions in January 2023 he finished ‘RED A Sea Worth protecting’ which focus on the IUCN red list. The film highlights the efforts of scientists and conservationists in the Red Sea to save a variety of endangered species including the Dugong, Turtles and Sharks.
In addition, in 2023 Philip concluded one of the most impactful film on marine life ever, the recognised documentary called COLLISION about whale collisions with vessels ( main cause of death for large cetaceans ) and what can be done to prevent the tragic fatalities caused by increased shipping traffic. On November 2023 Philip also released an emotive and powerful film - Why Blame the Seagulls? - about the incredible problem the Southern Right Whales of Patagonia are suffering.
THE BLUE FOREST was release worldwide on July 2021 - VISIT WWW.OCEANSOULSFILMS.COM for all his films.
Press- click and read
"Teeming with images of spectacular underwater scenes from around the world, Call of the Blue is the culmination of a five-year project by the photographer and ocean conservationist Philip Hamilton. This groundbreaking book includes contributions from acclaimed scientists and ocean ‘guardians’, who reveal what drove them to answer the call of the blue"
Sunday Times UK , 8th October 2023
CNN - June & August 2021
Natur Magazine Germany Aug2021
Kombini News Paris 2020
Literary Review – photo extract (November 2018)
The Times – photo extract (26 October 2018)
Telegraph – Nov 17th 2018- Photo with extended caption
DIVE Magazine- 2018-2019 Autumn Winter issue
Daily Mail 2017
Travel & Leisure 2017
EMOLTv - In debt interview (spanish)
Revista Del Domingo , El Mercurio June 1st 2020
Demoliendo mitos
Tras haber recorrido varias veces los mares del planeta, Hamilton está con- vencido de que la producción y difusión de este tipo de documentales es una de las herramientas más eficaces para la conservación.
Encuentros EMOL / EL Mercurio 27 th Jan 2021
LADERA SUR interview June 2021 click here
GQ Magazine, Dec 22nd, 2018
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/call-of-the-blue-philip-hamilton
The underwater photographer who risks his life for the perfect shot. Philip Hamilton's new book 'Call Of The Blue' is a beautiful, otherworldly compendium of underwater photographs. Here, he describes the challenges – and life-threatening dangers – of getting those pictures
DECEMBER 6TH 2018, by Samantha Weinberg
It was, he admits, a calculated decision to mix beautiful pictures with harsh words: “I’m not trying to deceive myself [by] hiding the problems and pretending that everything is perfect out there.” Yet he realised that the book would go unnoticed without beautiful photographs. “A single photo can be the most powerful conservation tool,” he says. This magnificent book is his call to arms. Let’s hope it works.
Book & Magazines contributions :
Pantera Magazine n2
Silent World, Siena Magazine, Dangerous Marine Animals, Smithsonian, Natur
Selected for Nature's Best Photography book in the US in 2019
As a Canon pro-master photographer Philip also contributes regularly to them with ocean related photography
Exhibitions
At Present Philip has a photo on the underwater category at WildLife Photography of the Year @ London's Natural History Museum.
Upcoming Event and exhibitions 2024:
London, late 2024 TBC
Contact Me
or via Instagram @philip.hamilton.photography
© 2020 PHILIP HAMILTON