Articles

Brian Pucella flies into Dean’s Blue Hole, Bahamas. Taken the day after William Trubridge’s Vertical Blue, 2012

In the world of competitive freediving, Daan Verhoeven is a part of the furniture. Armed with a Canon 5D in a Hugyfot housing, Daan quietly moves up and down with athletes, capturing personal bests, national records, and at times, world records, on one single breath. Without a tank, Daan’s maneuverability allows him to swim seamlessly and quickly, while making minimal impact on the ebb and flow of the water. Because of his technical mastery combined with a keen aesthetic understanding, Daan’s images have become the definitive hero images of competitive freedivers all over the world.

When he doesn’t have a camera in his hand, Daan teaches freediving and has taken on roles as safety diver, competition judge, and multiple record setter. As a descendent of philosophers (and a lover of bad puns), this complex and introspective shooter employs a unique formula combining creativity, mental control, and physically fitness—the necessary components to being a successful breath-holding photographer. Simply put, he has “made it his life mission to prove those who say, ‘Never work with kids, animals or underwater,’ wrong,” for he has the most fun when he combines those very elements.
 

Yoga teacher, Brittany Trubridge, demonstrating her yoga skills underwater. Brittany was one of Daan’s first underwater models
 

Johan Thelaus on his way down to 65 meters on a very clear day during Vertical Blue, 2015
 

UK pool freediving champion, Beci Ryan, at Dean’s Blue Hole
 

Colombian depth record holder, Sofia Gomez Uribe, and one of the deepest freedivers on Earth, Jonathan Sunnex, meeting for a kiss on the edge of Dean’s Blue Hole
 

World record holder Dean Chaouche executes another impressive dive at Dean’s Blue Hole
 

Sayuri Kinoshita, Japanese record holder, swimming down along the sand bank of Dean’s Blue Hole with a monofin
 

Freediving champion and yoga teacher, New Zealander Kate Middleton, doing a “floatus” (floating lotus) after a pool competition in Kalamata, Greece
 

Channeling Magritte’s surrealistic style in his home town of Brussels while on a shoot at Nemo 33
 

Violeta, a Spanish freediver, practicing flamenco dance poses underwater
 

Livvy the pup diving for stones on the Cornwall shore
 

Daan Verhoeven

To see more of Daan’s work, check out his website, www.daanverhoeven.com.