Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION March 2015 23 attorneys or CEOs, for advice about potentially switching careers to art or photography. I tell everyone, don't suddenly cut the umbilical cord and give up your day job because you don't know if you're going to love it, be any good at it, or be able to make a living at it. Try to do a little bit at a time and see how you do, which is basically what I did. Dr. Chang: What about being an ophthalmologist do you miss the most? Dr. Schatz: I liked my patients, my staff, and everything about being a physician. I had a busy consulta- tive referral practice and loved the challenge of diagnosing and manag- ing the most difficult cases. Fundus photography and angiography allowed us to share mystery cases among colleagues all over the world, and I loved these collaborations and constantly learning and teaching new things. I would have been fine if nothing had ever changed, but getting to have a second career has been a real gift. In a way I've been able to live 2 very different lives— one serious, focused life of science and medicine, and a second marked by creativity, imagination, fun, and the ability to try anything. It's been wonderful. Dr. Chang: How has your medical training and experience helped you in the world of photography? continued on page 24 Dr. Schatz: I've derived phenomenal gifts from medicine. As physicians, we learn about analytic thinking, scientific proof and methodology, and how to make and record obser- vations. I learned about assessing all sorts of possibilities and risk. But perhaps most importantly, by hav- ing so many frightened and anxious patients referred to me for their seri- ous retina problems, I learned to be- have in such a way that I could walk into a room, introduce myself, and within minutes give patients a sense of comfort and reassurance that they were in the right place. That really helps me as a portrait photographer. I know how to behave with my subjects who start off as complete strangers—how to present myself and to create an atmosphere that's emotionally comfortable. I don't have the photographic education that most of my colleagues have, but I feel that my medical education, which has enriched my life and given me so many important skills, gives me a tremendous advantage over many of my photography colleagues. Dr. Chang: You are particularly well known for your innovative under- water photography. Tell us what is inspiring and most challenging about this unique genre. Dr. Schatz: Underwater photogra- phy was the perfect challenge for me as a scientist, because I had to solve all sorts of problems of the physical world in an analytical manner by changing one variable at a time. These were the challenges. Because water is cyan, skin ends up looking blue-green, which is ugly. Water sucks up yellow and red light, creat- ing problems with illumination, but if you put lights near the water and they fall in, you can be electrocuted. So I had to solve the problems of lighting the subjects and achieving accurate color. When I started in 1992 all underwater photography was done through a viewfinder, so you're looking through one lens while shooting through another. It was very difficult to get the proper composition and focus. I had to fig- ure out chemistry because chlorine would burn the models' eyes and it would make a terrible picture. I had dancers and models with no body fat, who quickly became so hypothermic they were shivering. I had to figure out what's the right temperature where they could work with me all day. While still in California I start- ed by shooting in my swimming pool on the weekends. I bought an underwater camera and took copious notes while experimenting between the shallow and deep ends of the pool. After 6 months I finally figured out how to make a focused, well-composed, perfectly colored, and properly lit picture where the model was comfortable in terms of chemistry and temperature. One of my early books was called Seeing Red: The Rapture of Redheads, and the cover model was Katita Waldo, a pri- ma ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet who became a good friend. I called her up, and said, 'Katita, I've spent 6 months trying to make pic- tures underwater. I think I can do it, but I need a beautiful subject, and it occurs to me that the adversary of a dancer is gravity. What if you could perform in an environment that has no gravity? You could do a leap and hold that pose for a minute, until you have to come up for air.' She loved the idea and the very first pic- ture we made ended up winning an award. For photography, underwater is really a magic place. I continued to get better with experience and now, of my 20 total photography books, 5 of them were shot under- water. Dr. Chang: In ophthalmology, you had such a passion for clinical re- search. Has photography continued to provide similar opportunities? Dr. Schatz: My studio has been my research lab where I can try anything and where I've basically taught myself by experimenting. I would see an interesting magazine image over the weekend and by Monday, I would try to figure out in my studio how it was done. I learned so many techniques this way. Unlike with medicine, the best thing was that there was nothing to lose! The worst thing that could happen was a poor photograph, but through experimentation, the The covers of Schatz Images: 25 Years

• Cover