about

jeannot kuenzel

Me about me:
I'm from Berlin, Germany, living in Malta at the moment.

I'm an underwater photographer, cinematographer, editor, audio/visual mastering dude, PADI IDC Staff Instructor, I operate a diving rib, manage Watercolours dive center, and I kite.
I also own a cat.

Thats all.

Others about me:

Jeannot Kuenzel is a German dive professional and camera aficionado residing on the Mediterranean island of Malta. When he’s not under water, Jeannot can be found on his commercial diving rib, taking fellow divers to the most beautiful wrecks and dive sites around the Archipelago. In 1998 he took his first foray into the underwater world and has been hooked ever since. Jeannot studied art, photography and digital media arts at the FADBK in Essen, Germany and has been an avid photographer for almost two decades. After a couple of years as a professional photographer, he moved to Malta and eventually turned his main focus away from the surface and towards the inhabitants of the liquid world while obtaining a degree in Communications and Psychology.

Jeannot found his ultimate passion and true calling when he first attached a cheap diopter to his primitive compact underwater camera. A world he refers to as “Aliens of the Deep Blue” opened up in front of him and quickly captured his heart and curiosity. Over the past five years Jeannot has upgraded and even customized his equipment, constructing his own lenses and diopters to take pictures with higher and higher magnification. His work has been recognized by many underwater macro enthusiasts around the globe and published in various forms of media. Outside of diving, Jeannot works as a cinematographer, editor and voice-over producer in the Malta advertising domain. He is also a musician, collaborating with local music artists and singer/songwriters.

...

Jeannot, or Mr. J as he is called by everyone, is a German national that has been living and diving around Malta since 2008. J is a PADI Staff instructor and technical diver and functions as the General Manager of Watercolours Dive Centre. He is also a commercial captain and operates their 8.5m diving rib, taking divers to some of the best diving spots around the Maltese islands.
In addition to being an underwater craze since 1998, he is also a professional underwater photographer who specializes in Ultra Macro photography, capturing images of life on the smallest of scales (less than 10mm). Unbeknownst to many, Malta's crystal clear waters sparkle with macroscopic life at night and rival some of the most pristine diving destinations with their variety of Aliens of the Deep Blue.

My machines:
Olympus EM1MK2 & E-PL5 with the Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 ASPH OIS, a 7Artisans 7.5mm manual fisheye, and modified 14-42mm Olympus lenses, all inside the PT-EP14 & PT-EP05L housings, carrying a Zen Underwater FP-100-EP macro, a Zen WA-100 dome Port, and an Olympus OM-D PPO-EP02 dome port, equipped with an INON UCL-165 M67, an INON UCL-165 LD, an INON Z240, an INON s2000, the INON clear photo system and my self-built diopters & lightguides for the strobes.

Before that, it was the Canon G10 in Canon WP-DC28 housing with the INON W53 Optics set, an INON UCL-165M67, a customized INTOVA ISS2000x and a customized INTOVA ISS4000 that has auto-exposure enabled.

Back in the day with a Nikon S520 compact in the Ikelite 60m housing and an Intova ISS2000 strobe.