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Tim Laman

| Wildlife Photojournalist

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Raja Ampat Reefs

We emerged into what seemed like a lake but which was in fact a deep gulf … studded along its shores with numbers of rocky islets … Every islet was covered with strange-looking shrubs and trees … forming one of the most singular and picturesque landscapes I have ever seen.” 

Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, 1869


Left: Wallace’s map of the Raja Ampat Islands with his route. Right: The passage sailed by Wallace between Gam and Waigeo that prompted his quote above.

Why Raja Ampat?

I’ve been intrigued by this spectacular region ever since reading The Malay Archipelago by Wallace, and exploring this region above and below water has become a personal passion since my first visit in 1990.  It doesn’t hurt that the islands harbor Birds-of-Paradise, and the coral reefs are now known to be the richest in the world.

As a rain forest biologist and a marine enthusiast, I’m fascinated by places where the rain forest meets the sea.  Raja Ampat is a premier example of this.  In fact, it is the best I have ever seen.  The striking islets of uplifted limestone eroded by sea and weather give Raja Ampat some of the most striking scenery in Indonesia.  Here, as elsewhere, the land and sea are intertwined, but due to there being very little runoff from the porous limestone islands, corals can grow right up to the shore, even under overhanging forest!

Photographer Zafer Kizilkaya dives in the passage between Gam and Waigeo, and checks out a soft coral growing on a fallen tree.

Photo Workshop in Raja Ampat:

With the highest species diversity of reef fish and corals in the world, and spectacular above water scenery, Raja Ampat is a photographers dream.  It is also critically important to spread awareness about this region through visual imagery to support its conservation.

Underwater photographer and marine conservationist Zafer Kizilkaya and I hosting a Underwater Photography Workshop August 6-16, 2023! After many years of delays and planning we are excited to have this workshop at Papua Explorers. To learn more about the photo workshop and book please visit Papua Explorers.

Zafer Kizilkaya photographs a school of snapper and sweetlips in Raja Ampat.

Raja Ampat Through the Lens of …

I am honored to be one of the photographers contributing to this book printed in support of conserving Raja Ampat Reefs. 

Available from Tim’s Book Store

Portfolio – Raja Ampat Reefs

  • A Lionfish hovers in a seafan in a view looking toward the surface of the water.
  • Split level view of rainforest overhanging corals in “the passage” between Waigeo and Gam Islands. Archerfish swim over colorful soft corals. Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area. Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia
  • Aerial view of limestone islands with blue lagoons and shallow reefs. Davalen area of Misool. Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area. Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia
  • Balbulol Islands, Misool Limestone tower islands with blue lagoons and shallow reefs Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia
  • Aerial view of limestone islets, deep blue lagoons, and shallow reefs in the Davalen area of Misool Island. Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia
  • Nudibranch (Nembrotha kubaryana).
  • A huge school of trevally shelter beneath the jetty at Arborek Village. Many village docks in this area shelter such schools, which provide a handy source of protein for villagers in this remote part of Indonesia.
  • A forest of soft corals in the shallows of a rocky islet. Jacks hunting smaller fish. Misool Island vicinity. Near smaller island of Fiabacet.
  • Aerial view of limestone islets, deep blue lagoons, and shallow reefs in Hidden Bay, Gam Island, Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area. Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia
  • Aerial view of limestone islets, deep blue lagoons, and shallow reefs in Hidden Bay, Gam Island, Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia
  • A close-up of a Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi).
  • Raja Ampat Reefs
  • Two scorpionfish lie camouflagaed on the reef. Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia
  • Wayag Islands are an uninhabited group of uplifted limestone (karst) islands NW of Waigeo.
  • Split level/over-under view of karst islands and staghorn corals in the Wayag Group, Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia.
  • Soft corals, sea fans and sponges flourish on this healthy reef. Misool Island vicinity. Near smaller island of Fiabacet.
  • Denise’s Pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) camouflages itself in a sea fan. Yellow color form. Pisang Islands, W of Fak Fak Peninsula.
  • A school of fusiliers crosses above a massive school of snappers over a coral reef in the Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia.
  • Table corals and staghorn corals with schools of damselfish in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. A healthy hard coral reef

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Latest from Instagram:

Happy International Day of Forests! I’ve been ph Happy International Day of Forests! I’ve been photography rainforests and rainforest wildlife for my whole career, to help spread the word on their importance.  Join me now for a Q&A session with my partner @GitzoInspires from 09:30-11:30 US Eastern time (14:30-16:30 CET) on their IG Stories.  I’ll be there to answer your questions about forests and forest photography.
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