How Archer's Mark Dived Into Toxic Water to Get the Perfect Shot for Ballantine's

In late May, Ballantine’s Scotch whisky, production company Archer’s Mark and ‘hyper-real’ photographer Benjamin Von Wong journeyed to Tulum, Mexico with a team of 35 to participate in a unique, experimental underwater photographic project which launches globally today.

‘Ballantine’s Presents Benjamin Von Wong’s Underwater River’ is the fourth installment in a series of collaborations between Ballantine’s and unique talent from around the world who define Ballantine’s mantra of ‘Stay True’, and whose stories are showcased in unique films featuring projects inspired by their personal history, talents and beliefs. Previous collaborators include British GIF-ITI’ artist INSA (‘Space GIF-ITI’) which has been viewed 5.8m times around the world, and Africa’s leading DJ and producer, Black Coffee (‘Human Orchestra’).

Floating thirty metres (30m / 100ft) down in the ancient ‘Angelita’ Cenote ‘sinkhole’, is a cloud-like layer of hydrogen sulfide which separates salt and fresh water, creating a unique visual phenomenon - an ethereal, flowing ‘underwater river’.

Inspired by this natural phenomena and wanting to celebrate his Chinese heritage, his beliefs and his deeply ingrained passion for experimentation, Benjamin set to work with Ballantine’s to create a single, seemingly impossible underwater image – a stunning, contemporary recreation of a fading ancient tradition, the Chinese Cormorant Fisherman.

After just one month of intensive planning and research, across three continents, a specialist team, put together by Archer’s Mark and comprised of some of the world’s most experienced divers, set builders, underwater film makers and a record-breaking free-diver descended on the Mexican jungle, for five days in May to undertake a challenge none of them had ever before contemplated.

Bringing the epic production to life involved the ever present risks that accompany any underwater shoot, but these were further exacerbated in this beautiful location thanks to the hydrogen sulfide cloud which posed an ever present threat to the crew’s safety.

Commenting on the risks faced in the production of this project, Director Will Williamson of Archer’s Mark comments:   “The resulting footage is so epic and beautiful that it really does belie quite how challenging the shoot was. Logistically we chose to approach the ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ sequences as separate entities, each with their own crews. The ‘wet’ team was made up of cave-diving specialists and an experienced underwater film crew led by award-winning DOP Rob Franklin. The most dangerous element was building and lighting a set 100 feet below the surface because, even with the most high tech equipment, you’re limited by how long you can stay at that depth for. What’s more, at 100 feet down it gets seriously dark, especially in this particular cenote with it’s unusual mix of fresh water, salt water and the Hydrogen Sulphide cloud. There’s virtually no daylight down there which meant building and lowering the rig out in the wild and powering it from portable generators in the jungle.

“But really the most vulnerable person of all was our model and free diver Lance Lee Davis. Lance is a Guinness World Record holder and experienced free-diver, but we what we were asking him to do was extraordinarily difficult. In order to give Ben time to work and get his shot, Lance needed to hold his breath for several minutes at a time, control his own buoyancy and strike a pose on the boat. He was doing this for nearly forty minutes at a time, in 100 feet of freezing, semi-toxic water!!”

As part of its ongoing series of collaboration with inspirational creatives who define ‘Stay True’, Ballantine’s approached Benjamin and began discussions around what would become his most ambitious project to date.

After agreeing that the concept should focus on and celebrate his Chinese heritage, and a continuous desire to push himself and to create works that beguile the viewer, the team began researching unique locations from around the world add to the story and challenge.

Having come across ‘Cenotes’ on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula – giant sinkholes in the jungle connected by subterranean caves, exposing groundwater systems which the Mayans believed were the entrance to the ancient underworld – the team discovered an especially unique one. 

‘Angelita’ or ‘little angel’, descends 60m into the earth with clear crystal water. At a 30m depth (100ft), a natural layer of milky white hydrogen sulfide rests above a rocky outcrop, creating the illusion of ‘underwater river’ phenomenon, surrounded by natural scenery of tress.

Combining the themes of ancient Chinese culture and the Mayan location, and the location’s unique underwater river, the concept of placing a Chinese Cormorant Fisherman upon the river was decided on. But at depths of 30m, the location created a myriad of challenges and difficulties which Benjamin and the team set out to master.

On the concept and undertaking featured in the film, Benjamin says: “For me, the process and immense challenges of creating images that make people question ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ is almost important as the image itself – I want to people to be inspired and to question what they’re seeing. Being given the chance to even attempt something so crazy, and working with such talented people to make it happen, was truly humbling.”

Peter Moore, Ballantine’s Global Brand Director, says of the project: “From the first conversation we had with Benjamin, it was clear that this was going to be a truly special collaboration, particularly as he embodied exactly what it means to ‘Stay True’ to yourself, your passions and your heritage. The concept and challenge documented in the film is almost impossible to fathom, yet through this collaboration not only with Benjamin but also with one of our most technical and specialist teams to date, it became possible and we hope that it will excite and inspire viewers around the world.”

Will Williamson, Director, Archers Mark adds: “It quickly became apparent that shooting something underwater would give us the potential to set ourselves some particularly special challenges – and plenty came up along the way! Once on set we knew that the idea we had proposed would blow people’s minds if only we could pull it off. The two main challenges became building the set as we had envisioned it and ensuring the safety of every single crew-member throughout. Without doubt the most enjoyable aspect of telling this story was the privilege of being able to explore one of the richest environments on the planet with the help of some of the most ingenious professionals I have ever encountered.”