João Paulo Krajewski

Born in Campinas, Brazil, João Paulo Krajewski has been always passionate about nature and adventures. In 1999, he began his BSc in Biological Sciences at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, one of the most prestigious universities in Brazil. During his graduation, he also dedicated some of his time to nature photography, besides his and his colleagues’ research. At the university, João met Roberta Bonaldo, who became his wife. Right after finishing his graduation, he began to study ecology and behaviour of marine fishes and obtained a Master and a PhD degrees in Ecology. During this period, João has been especially influenced by his supervisor and friend, Prof. Ivan Sazima, who inspired him to develop a passion for Natural History and for the careful observation of animal behaviour.

Along with Prof. Ivan, Roberta Bonaldo and the colleague and researcher Dra. Cristina Sazima, João spent several years conduction research at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil. As a result, the team published a series of scientific articles and a book on behaviour of fishes in the archipelago. João also worked as a cameramen and photographer for the research team and the stories recorded were featured on television shows in the main TV channel in Brazil, Rede Globo. Since then, Joao dedicated himself almost exclusively to wildlife filming and photography. In 2006, he moved to Australia, where Roberta conducted her PhD on fish ecology in the Great Barried Reef. João and Roberta did many field trips together and interacted with world leading researchers in marine ecology . They also frequently visited tropical rainforests of Australia, and were mesmerised by the unique and strange fauna they have found in the country, including kangaroos that climb trees and the amazing birds of paradise. João and Roberta became especially interested in the differences between the Brazilian rainforest they were used to visit as kids and forests from other world regions. João and Roberta then started travelling the world, especially to explore tropical reefs and rainforests, always photographing and filming.

In 2008 João, was hired by Rede Globo to produce, record and present a segment about wildlife at one of the most famous TV shows in Brazil, Domingão do Faustão. Since then, he has travelled to about 15 countries every year to record short stories about nature, animal behaviour and nature conservancy. In 2010, João and Roberta moved to Atlanta, USA, where Roberta started a post-doctoral program at Georgia Institute of Technology, working on marine protected areas in Fiji. They both spend months living in a coastal village surrounded by coral reefs, where locals and researchers kept protected areas. João and Roberta studied the effects of reef protection and also worked educating local children and leaders on reef conservation.

In 2012 Joao and Roberta moved back to Brazil. Since then, Roberta Has been a post-doctoral fellow at University of São Paulo and João still travels the world to record images for Globo TV, documentaries and other projects on nature science and conservation.

During his career, João Paulo visited more than 50 countries to record and nature photography. From tropical rainforests, deserts, cold regions and coral reefs, his images were featured in several TV shows around the world, including documentaries for National Geographic, Globo TV and Fuji TV, Japan. He won several international awards for his photographs, including a “Highly Commended” image on the “Wide Angle” category in the “Underwater Photographer of the Year”, London, and several images in the final round of the prestigious “Wildlife Photographer of the Year”. Because of his education as a PhD biologist, he combines artistic and scientific approaches to produce his images, showing the beauty of the natural world, but also featuring important information on how nature works. João made more than 4000 dives in reefs around the world, and photographed from 15m long whales to 1.5 cm pygmy seahorses. Part of this work underwater is featured in his coffee-table book “Life in Our Seas”, with more than 300 of his images.