Photo: Doug Allan
Doug Allan is stood on stage wearing a shark t-shirt and welcoming the audience to the final date on his tour. He has filmed in the most far flung corners of the earth and seen some of the rarest sights known to man. But here he is, at the Carriageworks, talking about his greatest experiences and his new book, Life Behind The Lens. Much as David Attenborough is known for his iconic and entrancing story telling voice, it is Allan’s unbelievable camera work which has the world holding its breath in anticipation, having filmed series like Life and Planet Earth.
Attenborough is to be held responsible for getting him into the business. Allan, first scientist and then deep sea diver, took to combining the two which has lead him through 30 years taking a vast profusion of footage. Doug begins his story with a smile spread across his face. Speaking about his Polar Honour bestower, Prince Charles, he knew it to be Allan’s second, and in his rolling Scottish accent replied “yes and your mum gave me the first one.” The audience ripples with laughter and Allan manoeuvres smoothly back into the topic at hand. When asked what is the best thing he has filmed there is one answer: the polar bear. He has spent hundreds of days in their natural habitat and jokes that “it’s good to recognise a curious bear and one with evil intent. You can tell the difference.” The audience is reassured that there is always a man on a snow machine, some exciting sounding flares and bearspray ready to chase off any with that intent.
His time spent in both the Arctic and Antarctica has led him across land and ice. He has been captured filming and befriending curious leopard seals who are momentarily mesmerised by their own reflection. He’s had to decide between saving his wife or her video camera after an underwater encounter with the tail of a humpback whale and managed to escape the grip of a walrus who mistook him for a seal. Through his honest and scientific approach to the study of his beloved Arctic, the talk slips into a moment of sobriety as he moves on to talk about its future. It is simply and pragmatically explained that the uncertainty of the future of the Arctic lies with the shrinking of the ice itself. Calmly, he tells the audience in no uncertain terms the position it is in and what awaits it if the world continues to exploit it.
Doug Allan is a modern day explorer. He has dedicated years of his life to collecting footage of things that we could only dream of seeing first hand. He has given to the world some of the most unbelievable and glorious footage and yet in front of an audience remains modest, engaging and evidently passionate about his work.
Emma Bakel