John Bantin
Aliases: john bantin (forum) Role: Dive journalist, author, underwater photographer Affiliation: Technical Editor, Diver Magazine (UK); contributor to Undercurrent and DYK magazines First appearance: ~2006 (forum)
Biography
John Bantin is a British dive journalist who learned to dive in 1979 and made diving his full-time career in 1992. For over 20 years he traveled the globe as Technical Editor of Diver Magazine and a regular contributor to Undercurrent and DYK magazines. He was shortlisted for the Environmental Photographer of the Year award in 2015 ([1]).
Bantin holds a unique and complex place in the Wetpixel story: he was welcomed as a community member (book promotions, Full Frame galleries, show appearances) by Adam Hanlon, and later became the journalist whose Undercurrent investigation exposed Hanlon’s financial mishandling of Wetpixel.
Contributions
Forum Presence
With 1,767 forum posts, Bantin was one of the most active contributors, covering housing maintenance, strobe settings, dive safety, animal behavior, and gear discussions. In September 2006, he started the provocative thread “Is it art or is it reality?” about Photoshop manipulation in UW photography, which attracted 80+ replies and was featured as a Wetpixel article by Eric Cheng ([2]).
Books
- Amazing Diving Stories (2013) — his best-selling book
- Shark Bytes: Tales of Diving with the Bizarre and the Beautiful (Fernhurst Books, September 2015, £17.99) ([3])
Photography
Published a Full Frame gallery of great hammerheads photographed in Bimini, Bahamas (February 2013 trip with Stuart Cove), shot with a Nikon D800 ([4]).
Undercurrent Investigation
Bantin’s most historically significant role was investigating Adam Hanlon’s financial handling of Wetpixel for Undercurrent magazine circa 2023. Hanlon’s statements to Bantin about “potential purchasers” and asset liquidation appear to be his last known public statements about Wetpixel’s financial situation, later cited by Divernet (forum [5]).
Timeline
- 1979: Learned to dive
- 1992: Made diving his full-time career
- 2006-09: “Art or reality?” forum discussion featured on Wetpixel ([6])
- 2007-03: Quoted in Larry Smith memorial from Diver Magazine article ([7])
- 2013: Published Amazing Diving Stories (best-seller)
- 2013-02: Photographed great hammerheads in Bimini ([8])
- 2015: Shortlisted for Environmental Photographer of the Year
- 2015-09: Published Shark Bytes ([9])
- 2017-11: Attended DEMA 2017 ([10])
- ~2023: Investigated Adam Hanlon / Wetpixel finances for Undercurrent (forum [11])
References
Sources
- Wetpixel article, Sep 22, 2015: Introducing Shark Bytes By John Bantin ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 20, 2006: Photography Art Reality ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 22, 2015: Introducing Shark Bytes By John Bantin ↩
- Wetpixel article, Nov 24, 2015: John Bantin Bimini Hammerheads ↩
- Forum thread: Preservation Of Wetpixel ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 20, 2006: Photography Art Reality ↩
- Wetpixel article, Mar 21, 2007: Larry Smith ↩
- Wetpixel article, Nov 24, 2015: John Bantin Bimini Hammerheads ↩
- Wetpixel article, Sep 22, 2015: Introducing Shark Bytes By John Bantin ↩
- Wetpixel article, Nov 2, 2017: Show Report Dema 2017 ↩
- Forum thread: Preservation Of Wetpixel ↩
- Photography: Art or reality? (2006) (article) ↩
- Larry Smith memorial (2007) (article) ↩
- Shark Bytes book announcement (2015) (article) ↩
- Bimini hammerheads — Full Frame (2015) (article) ↩
- DEMA 2017 show report (2017) (article) ↩
- Preservation of Wetpixel thread (~2023) (forum) ↩