This photo buff fights for nature, brings home pictures to prove it

TEAM  Yogi and Stella Freund at the launch of their “The Coral Triangle” book

Lots of Pinoys make their mark in the world in quiet ways, and allow their work to speak for itself.

For Stella Chiu-Freund, half of the acclaimed nature and underwater photography team behind Jürgen Freund Photography (that’s her husband, juer
genfreund.com), that means letting their work say a lot.

Jürgen (more affectionately known as Yogi) and Stella have been taking breathtaking photographs for two decades, living their lives in pursuit of nature’s most perfect moments, both underwater and above it.

Unforgettable experiences

They live in Cairns, Australia, but on assignment anywhere in the world, they could be sleeping in a tent on a beach in West Papua to shoot leatherback turtles, or lugging several kilograms of equipment to the Australian Outback.

As Stella says, “It’s all about unforgettable experiences, thousands of gorgeous sunsets over calm blue seas, and wildlife encounters that never fail to remind us of how magnificent this planet really is.”

Thankfully, aside from shooting for regional magazines, for which Yogi has bagged countless photo awards, they’ve documented these moments in several books, including “Sulu-Sulawesi Seas,” “The Coral Triangle” (a stunning record of their 18-month expedition through the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands in 2009, published by WWF or World Wide Fund For Nature, and Asian Development Bank), and last year’s “Wildlife Under the Waves,” available on Amazon.com.

JACKS surround the Malayan wreck in Tubbataha Reef. Jürgen Freund/contributor

The Freunds are the perfect team, not just as professionals, but as a couple. The two met in Manila in 1999, when Yogi was already a published and acclaimed wildlife photographer originally from Dortmund, Germany, and Stella was an advertising producer tasked with buying photographs for a client.

Low maintenance

They watched a movie for their first date, and never looked back, getting married in 2000. In 2003, they moved to Cairns, Australia, where they now live.

Stella, an excellent cook, prides herself in being utterly low-maintenance; on assignment, the Freunds can pack weeks’ worth of provisions in their four-wheel drive, and just go.

Stella is Chinese-Filipino, born and raised in Manila, the youngest of five children. Her father, Ambrose Chiu, immigrated to the Philippines from Canton, China, in his teens, studied at Ateneo de Manila University, and was co-owner of the famous Panciteria Moderna in Santa Cruz, Manila. He met Stella’s mother, Pacita, when she would frequent the panciteria.

Stella also graduated from Ateneo, and went on to work as an advertising and documentary producer, working on successful campaigns and producing several short environmental and cultural documentary films, including the acclaimed “Jose Rizal: Ang Buhay ng Isang Bayani,” for Ateneo.

Shooting in the Australian Outback

Documenting threats, beauty

The Freunds are looking forward to more nature adventures in the future. It’s a long way from a Makati advertising agency to the coral reefs of Raja Ampat, Indonesia, and the Australian Outback, but Stella has always loved nature, and even learned to scuba-dive when she was still working in Manila. Today, such love has taken on larger dimensions.

By documenting threats and problems as well as beauty and abundance, the Freunds hope to do their part for conservation. “Our zeal to take pictures that can make a difference keeps us going. But I also thank our lucky stars every day for the opportunity to do what we do.”

BIRD ISLAND, Tubbataha Reef Jürgen Freund/contributor