Paul’s footage of the illegal wildlife trade features heavily throughout the 2015 film “Racing Extinction”, produced by the Ocean Preservation Society and directed by Oscar winner, Louie Psihoyos, which premiered at the SunDance film festival.
In 2009, Paul became a member of the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers, and in 2010 launched his first book, Man & Shark, highlighting the global Shark-Finning industry. He has received numerous awards for his conservation photography: in 2012 a World Press Photo award for his body of work on the Shark Fin issue and was also awarded Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2012, 2014 and 2016; the Asian Geographic Best of the Decade series, and the Ark Trust Award for exposing bear bile farming in China, for Animals Asia Foundation. His photos were published in the book, Black Market, which deals with the wildlife trade in Asia, and included his documentation of the wild-animal markets and theme parks of China.
Paul has spent that past decade following the shark fin trade across the globe, from the fishing ports of Yemen and the middle East to the high seas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans; documenting life onboard long-lining fleets from Taiwan, China, Philippines, and Indonesia; in the dried seafood markets of Southern China and Hong Kong; documenting a newly-discovered blue whale migration; satellite tagging of humpback whales; and documenting sustainable pole-and-line tuna fisheries worldwide. These projects have been in cooperation with WildAid, Human Society International, Greenpeace International and the Hong Kong Shark Foundation.
Paul is a Hong Kong-based photojournalist and wildlife trade consultant who focuses on global environmental and conservation issues and endeavours to bring about urgent change in the way we treat our surroundings. Presently, he is working on the palm oil issue: documenting deforestation, land clearing, and the wildlife trade in Sumatra’s Leuser Eco-system, Indonesia, in collaboration with Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Wildlife Asia and Forest Nature and Environment Aceh (HAkA).
Previously, Paul followed the manta and mobula ray trade across the world and set up the Manta Ray of Hope project to document, in partnership with WildAid and Manta Trust, the plight of the great rays and investigate the use of gill-rakers in traditional Chinese medicine. He is now an Associate Director with Manta Trust and a WildAid consultant.
