Since an early age, Vanessa has always been fascinated and captivated by the natural world and its wildlife.
She has a special affinity with the oceans. Born in Brittany , in the West of France, she spent most of her childhood on the beaches of that wild coast. And, with her 2 grand fathers in the navy, she grew up listening to amazing travelling tales who captured her imagination.
Her passion for travels and discovery led her to live in several countries, including Burundi , Mexico and Canada . She always had a little disposable camera or point and shoot camera to document and capture all those special moments, and loved how a simple picture could tell a whole story. In 2003 she arrived in Australia and fell in love with the wild and "real" feel of that country. No where else had she seen such a diversity of landscapes and easy access to many wild animals.
She got her first SLR camera at the end of 2009 and a few months later bought an underwater housing. Since then she has been very fortunate to travel to remote locations and witness amazing wildlife spectacles including the Manta feeding vortex in the Maldives , Whalesharks feeding frenzy in West Papua or Humpback whales courting behaviour in the Kingdom of Tonga , where she works as a guide.
During those trips she met passionate people committed to protect those creatures and their environments. Their devotion was inspiring. Vanessa became very keen and focused on sharing the beauty of the world around us and hopefully playing a part in protecting it.
Vanessa is now based in Sydney where she works as a full time Business analyst. She packs her bags whenever she can to go and capture the beauty of the natural world. She hopes that her photography and experience sharing can inspire others and increase people awareness of how diverse and beautiful nature is, and how essential it is to protect it.
To see more pictures or find out about swimming with whales tours, please check www.vanessamignon.com.
