Kevin Sempé

"I love the underwater imagery, it brings depth, colors, geometrics and artistic mood and texture in a film. Add adventure and discovery and you have the perfect combo to transmit the most beautiful emotions in the service of nature.”

When and why did you start diving? 

I started diving very young, but it’s much later than I made the connection between a passion - diving - and a profession – filming. What prompted me to take my camera underwater was the desire to go on adventures and discover the world and bring back stories and images for my films. The feeling of doing something different.

What do you enjoy most about diving?

I’m living my dives through the screen of my camera, I like to capture moments in the camera and then tell them through editing, music and stories. I love immersing myself in the most remote and unknown places, seeing animals or wrecks that only few people have had the chance to discover. I am also an aficionado of technology, I love to film with the latest equipment in order to capture the most beautiful footage. 

Most memorable dive experience?

Today, some of my most memorable dives are in one of the most beautiful places I have found, New Zealand. A totally unexpected experience. Obviously, the encounters I made with big mammals are always striking, but on these dives in New Zealand, Poor Knight and Milford Sound, I really had the feeling of seeing something new.

Another memorable dive was in Canada on the Empress of Ireland shipwreck for a documentary I was working on. It is a tragic story, a wreck full of emotions, cold, dark and deep, and very strong current. It was one of the most challenging dives I have ever done.

Favorite piece of Aqualung equipment?

I have used the Rogue BC on 100% of my dives in the past few years, its modularity and minimalized design frees me to focus on my filming. 

Diving skill you are working to improve?

Trying to open my eyes, to focus of what’s happing in front of me. Sometimes we have our eyes focused on the screen and everything around us missed. I come out of the water telling myself that I have to look at my footage, to realize what I have just seen! Also, I’m learning every day to dive and work while disturbing nature as little as possible.

What steps are you taking to improve the health of our oceans? Any advice for others who want to help?

I often try to protect the places I’m visiting, by avoiding accurately disclosing the locations. When I can, my films tell about the importance of awareness. I hope by making amazing videos in places people can’t always visit themselves, they will be inspired to preserve beautiful places.

Any hidden talents?

It's more of a hidden life, really unrelated to my professional activity, I live on a horse farm with stables and 27 horses.