Ballantine's Presents Benjamin Von Wong's Underwater River

In late May, Ballantine journeyed to Tulum, Mexico with world renowned ‘hyper-real’ photographer Benjamin Von Wong (VonWong.com) and a team of 35 to undertake a never before attempted #StayTrue photographic project - 35m deep under water in a Mexican ‘cenote’, floating above a stunning natural 'underwater river'. 

To capture the image – a recreation of a traditional Chinese Cormorant Fisherman celebrating Ben's #StayTrue story and Chinese heritage – took a team of world leading divers, set builders, and a world champion free diver working to the edge of their creativity and ability to achieve. The full results and scale of the challenge can be seen in the film, and a ‘Making Of’ film is available on our YouTube channel. 

About Stay True Stories; 

Whether it’s creating the world’s largest animated GIF from satellites above the skies of Rio De Janeiro with British ‘GIF-ITI’ artist INSA, or harnessing the power of 40 human voices to recreate Africa’s leading DJ & producer Black Coffee’s biggest hit, our Stay True Stories Series of films and experiments features world leading creative pioneers who define what it truly means to Stay True.

Each Stay True Story delves into the story, history and beliefs of our collaborator, and features an inspirational experiment rooted in their passion – pushing them to the edge of their creativity in the process.