"I've always had a respect for film, after all, I started my career in still photography. In transitioning to television production, however, I was early to recognize that commercial broadcast cameras had developed to the point where they rendered the marine environment in an uncanny, beautiful way."
— Feodor Pitcairn
Feodor Pitcairn began photographing wildlife in his teens, and since 1967 has worked predominantly underwater, with a growing fascination for portraying marine animals within the context of the underwater seascape. He has spent over 3,000 hours underwater, photographing and filming remote ocean wilds across the world.
In 1981, his photography exhibit, "Galapagos" Born of the Sea" opened at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and then went on a four-year tour with the Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibits. In 1984, the New York Graphic Society (Little, Brown) published "Hidden Seascapes", a collection of Feodor's photographs emphasizing his concept of portraying the seascape in natural light. The collection has been exhibited at Penn State Campus and the New Jersey State Aquarium. His work has also appeared in many magazines and calendars. A portfolio of his natural light photographs was published in Audubon in 1989.
In 1991 he retired from his business life in order to devote his full time and attention to the creation of television productions. Feodor Pitcairn Productions was formed to specialize in television and educational productions featuring marine life. Ocean Wilds, a 5-part series and ten year effort of enormous magnitude shot in locations all over the world, was the first production completed. The last 2 shows of the series introduced the production companies use of state-of-the-art High-Definition technology and HD programming. Ocean Wilds made it's on-air debut on world wide broadcast television and PBS in 2001.
Feodor Pitcairn Productions' shows have been distributed for worldwide television broadcast internationally by ITEL/Granada International and Tapestry International, nationally by PBS. Video distribution of the Ocean Wilds series is available through PBS.
He has won numerous awards for both his work in photography and film, including a finalist and merit awards from the International Wildlife Film Festival and "Prix du Public" at the Jules Verne Film Festival Paris.
Active in numerous civic and charitable organizations, particularly those involved in environmental concerns, he remains a longtime member and supporter of The Ocean Conservancy in particular.
