Check out this wildlife photographer’s pitch-perfect recreation of the classic JAWS movie poster alongside a real-life great white shark.
“This is a photo that a lot of my shark friends, including myself, have been trying to take for years.”
Meet Euan Euan Rannachan. Not only has he recreated one of the most iconic film posters of all time, but he’s done it whilst capturing an absolutely killer wildlife photo in its own right. It is, by all accounts, a “once in a lifetime” shot – and it is spectacular to behold.
After the prior quote, Rannachan tells My Modern Met that he “had a feeling” that he had captured the shot.
“But things happen so fast down there really all I could do was get ready for the next pass if there going to be one. It was not till much later that night, when I was backing up footage, that I saw I had it—and most importantly it was in focus,” he recalls.
If you’re not sold yet – that’s because you haven’t seen A.) how spot on his JAWS recreation is, and B.) how remarkably crisp a wildlife photo it is. Behold:
Per his talk with My Modern Met, Rannachan hopes the attention his JAWS shot has garnered will bring further attention to the plight these animals face across the planet. Though enormous and powerful, as Rannachan states, great white sharks are listed as a “vulnerable” species. Humanity has held these ancient behemoths on both sides of extinction’s edge for a century now, with this “vulnerability” teetering each way from decade to decade. Anything Rannachan can do to help fix this – that is his mission.
‘JAWS’ and the Great White Dilemma
Though he’s created a poster with one of the most prolific film monsters of all time, Rannachan wants people to know these giants of the seas are in no way “villains” or “monsters” at all. They’re simply fighting to survive. Just like us.
“I think the thing that always excites me is how powerful [and] precise they can be, while at the same time being completely under control,” he adds of the apex predators. ” It’s amazing to watch a 3,000-pound animal approach its target, flick its tail, accelerate… And spin on a dime like nothing just happened.”
His fascination with these sea giants, which pre-date the dinosaurs, goes back to childhood. As an adult, Rannachan channels this euphoric obsession into wildlife photography and conservation. His “countless hours diving with sharks,” as My Modern Met points out, would be the fruition of lifelong dreams.
As for his actual JAWS recreation, it was a “recent trip” to Guadalupe Island in Mexico that resulted in his “photo of a lifetime.”
For it, Rannachan was only 35-feet away from the great white shark in a diving cage. One the massive fish struck a familiar pose, Rannachan struck back – and the shot was sealed. We all know this pose thanks to artist Roger Kastel, who painted the original JAWS poster. His work, however, was based on a taxidermy specimen. Rannachan is the first to capture this iconography so perfectly in nature.
