Michael O. Snyder is a photographer, filmmaker, and scientist who uses his combined knowledge of visual storytelling and environmental conservation to create narratives that connect people to the other-than-human-world and drive social change. As founder of Interdependent Pictures, he has directed films in the Arctic, the Amazon, the Himalaya, East Africa, and his home in rural Appalachia.
His journalism work has been featured by National Geographic, The Guardian, VOX, Roads & Kingdoms, The Washington Post, High Country News, The Wild Magazine, Condé Nast, NPR, Political Science and Politics, Social Documentary and Beautiful Decay. His films have been selected to over 40 festivals and have taken home numerous awards.
(See Michael's backstory of the phone below...)
He holds and MSc in Environmental Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, a Blue Earth Photographer, a Fearless Photographer, and the co-founder of two environmental organizations. Mike has hiked the Appalachian and John Muir Trails, cycled across Europe and ridden trains across Siberia. He currently resides in Charlottesville, Virginia with his wife and son.
mike@interdependentpictures.org
insta: @michaelosnyder /
phone: +1-301-804-7710
"As a documentary and wedding photographer I love to be able to go places and create shots that push the limits of exploration. In the past I have tried a number of underwater camera housings, but I consistently found them difficult to work with. Often, they were too heavy and bulky to fit in with my travel equipment. Also, the hard-box style of camera housing wouldn’t allow me to access the settings on my camera. This year I found the Outex and it was a perfect fit for me: I can pack it down to the size of a small lens, I can access the buttons the camera easily while shooting, and it works great while keeping my camera gear safe. I am blending it into both my wedding work and documentary film work with amazing results.
This past September I was on a destination wedding shoot in Ireland. The couple got married by a castle in Kenmare and there was this beautiful lake ringed by mountains nearby. So I decided that it would be a perfect setting to try out the Outex. It was freezing but I sent the intrepid couple out onto a pile of rocks in the lake, stripped down to my underpants, and plunged into the water. The sun was setting just behind them and I positioned the camera half way underwater, allowing the light to refract and create a series of flares. It took a few tried to get it right, but finally I was able to come up with the end result.
This week that photo was honored as a Finalist for a Fearless Award, the highest honor in creative wedding photography."
