Tossing The Shark
I got a call from an ad agency asking if I could photograph a live shark. This was long before AI, and Adobe Photoshop was still in its infancy. Computer processing power was a fraction of what it is today.you could start a simple Gaussian blur and have enough time to leave the room for coffee and a snack while the machine churned through its task.
The assignment sounded simple enough. Capture a clean image of a shark against a white background. No ocean, no distractions, just the shark. At the time, achieving that level of clarity underwater was beyond the capabilities of film and camera equipment.
My solution was to build a small aquarium and shoot the image in a controlled studio environment using professional lighting. The plan came together quickly enough. Everything, that is, except for one critical detail: where to find a shark.
San Francisco was close to the renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium, but they had no interest in transporting a live shark for a photo shoot. There was also a marine amusement park in the North Bay that rented animals for movies and similar productions. I nearly persuaded them, but the combined cost of insurance, transportation, a trainer, and rental fees exceeded the entire budget.
So I had to get creative.
San Francisco, in those days, was a magical city. Romantic, vibrant, and, above all, full of unexpected connections. Like any large metropolis, if you searched long enough, you could find almost anything. Just not always where you expected. My breakthrough came through a restaurateur friend with connections in Chinatown.
I won’t suggest anything illicit, nor imply culinary intentions. Let’s just say we had to be very specific by conforming that we needed more than a fin, and the fish had to be alive. The arrangement required us to pick it up ourselves, in cash, in a back alley in a part of the city I didn’t usually visit. But we got the shark.
The shoot was a succes. We captured exactly what we needed. What I hadn’t considered, however, was what to do afterward. Returning it wasn’t an option; no one was willing to take it. It was a strange problem to have: So, what do you do with a live shark after a photo shoot?
Our only solution was to transport it, still in its aquarium, to a small drawbridge just a block and a half away. There, we held a modest farewell and released it into the waters leading out to the ocean.
We watched as it slipped beneath the surface. After a moment it swam off into the vast expanse of the bay.
I like to think it had quite a story to tell. So did we.
