ABOUT
CHRIS SCARFFE
CINEMATOGRAPHER, DIRECTOR, PHOTOGRAPHER & CONSERVATIONIST
ENVIRONMENTAL - NATURAL HISTORY - DIFFICULT ACCESS
AERIALS - TERRESTRIAL - UNDERWATER
Chris is an award winning filmmaker, photographer and writer with over fifteen years of experience. Chris specialises in environmental and wildlife projects, often working in extreme or threatened environments where he embeds with remote communities or captures rare and unique species. He is unusual as a cinematographer in that he is equally comfortable filming or photographing underwater, terrestrially and aerially. Clients have included a wide range of broadcasters and non-profit organisations including the BBC, Terra Mater Studios, PBS, HBO, Viceland, Save Our Seas, Mongabay and Synchronicity Earth. Chris’ goal is to produce powerful and engaging imagery that creates environmental and behavioural change.
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I spent some time recently in Rwanda researching for a project into the pros and cons of wildlife tourism in primates. The topic is a very emotive one and a subject I know well having produced and directed the investigative documentary Eyes of the Orangutan which aired recently on National Geographic. Therefore I was very curious to see how the gorilla trek and visit to the habituated group of golden monkeys compared to what I had witnessed in the orangutan wildlife tourism industry. Along the way I spoke with a range of people involved in this highly lucrative industry to try and better understand the conservation and community positives and negatives of these operations.
Editing these photos has brought back great memories of a recent trip to cover the conservation work of the Malagasy NGO GERP. I was there on assignment for Maliasili for the first in a series of photography projects that will highlight the work of some of the partner organisations that they support in Madagascar. The principal purpose for each of these trips is to create high quality media that can be used by each local partner organisation to help with impact, educational and funding campaigns.
After my trip to Peruvian Andes I moved on to Extreme Atlantic South of Brazil to document the work of Instituto Curicaca. Instituto Curicaca is a non-governmental non-profit organisation that works for the conservation of nature, the appreciation of culture and the promotion of eco-development in Brazil. Together we embarked on an epic 12 day 2500km expedition. We crossed dunes, marshes, swamps, canyons and forests to the Salto do Yucumã, in the Uruguay River in Argentina. Along the way we documented many of Instituto Curicaca's key projects including forest restoration, wildlife bridges, protected reserves, conservation of rare amphibians and their habitats and their educational work with young people from indigenous communities.
I had an incredible time in Peru documenting the amazing work of Asociación Pro Fauna Silvestre – Ayacucho. I was there on assignment for Synchronicity Earth for the first in a series of film and photography projects that will highlight the work of some of the partner organisations that they support in Latin America and Asia.
IN BREAKING NEWS!!! National Geographic is to screen our investigative documentary Eyes of the Orangutan this weekend. We will keep you updated as to which regions and times it will be screened.
Our hope is that this documentary will shed light on an industry which sees thousands of animals suffer every single day, all for our entertainment. Your decisions as tourists matter!
The film was a passion project made over 4 years and it couldn't have happened without such an incredible crew.
It was a real pleasure to be the DOP for the African portion of the German prime-time documentary “SOS Ocean (SOS Ozean): Help for an endangered habitat” for ZDF. The documentary follows the work of people around the world who are committed to protecting the oceans. In projects that sometimes start small but have a big impact.
