Jean-Marie Ghislain’s story is one of transformation — a journey from fear to fascination, from the unknown depths of the ocean to the subtle poetry of water in all its forms.

For over twenty years, the Belgian artist built a successful business career, notably as co-founder and COO of a firm specialising in environmental technologies, where he led a team of 400 engineers. Yet beneath this success lived a quiet fear — of water, and of sharks in particular.

In 2009, in his early fifties, he decided to confront that fear. He learned to dive, and this courage led him to unexpected success: he soon became known as a shark whisperer. Immersed among creatures once seen as dangerous, he discovered presence, intelligence, and grace. His images of sharks revealed them as sentient beings — not monsters, but mirrors — and invited viewers to look again at their own fears.

Ghislain’s photographs were published in numerous books and soon caught the attention of international media. Through his work, he seeks to raise awareness of the many threats that human activity poses to sharks and other marine species, and to fight against misconceptions that endanger them. He continues to advocate for the preservation of ocean habitats, urging a more conscious and respectful relationship with nature.

Over time, his exploration deepened beyond the ocean. Water itself became his subject — its memory, its movement, its living intelligence. From the depths of Hawaii to the rivers of Yakushima, the sacred springs of Fez and Bali, and even the zinc rooftops of Brussels, he follows water’s traces in all its forms — natural and man-made — revealing its power to shape, reflect, and connect life.

His images emerge not from control but from surrender — from listening until the pulse of water becomes his own. Through light, texture, and reflection, he captures moments of emotion where the visible and the invisible meet.

Today, Jean-Marie’s work invites us to rediscover our relationship with the living world — to slow down, to see with the gaze of the heart, and to remember that every drop of water carries within it the memory of life itself.