Ballantine’s Presents Benjamin Von Wong’s Underwater River is the fourth installment in a series of collaborations between Ballantine’s Scotch whisky and unique talent from around the world who define Ballantine’s mantra of “Stay True,” and whose stories are showcased in unique films featuring projects inspired by their personal history, talents and beliefs.
In late May, Ballantine’s, production company Archer’s Mark and "hyper-real" photographer Von Wong journeyed to Tulum, Mexico, with a team of 35 to participate in a unique, experimental underwater photographic project which launched globally today. Floating thirty meters (30m / 100ft) down in the ancient "Angelita" Cenote ‘sinkhole’ is a cloud-like layer of hydrogen sulfide which separates salt and fresh water, creating a unique visual phenomenon–an ethereal, flowing ‘underwater river’.
Inspired by this natural phenomena and wanting to celebrate his Chinese heritage, his beliefs and his deeply ingrained passion for experimentation, Von Wong set to work with Ballantine’s and agency M&C Saatchi Sports & Entertainment to create a single, seemingly impossible underwater image–a stunning, contemporary recreation of a fading ancient tradition, the Chinese Cormorant Fisherman.
Bringing the epic production to life involved the ever present risks that accompany any underwater shoot, but these were further exacerbated in this beautiful location thanks to the hydrogen sulfide cloud which posed an ever present threat to the crew’s safety.
