“I am a passionate scuba diver, wildlife photographer, and dedicated philanthropist. My journey into the depths of the oceans and the heart of Earth's wild places has shaped my commitment to conservation.”
Javier Mendoza is a wildlife photographer and underwater cinematographer based in Newport Beach, California. A master-level scuba diver with more than 500 dives across the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Southern Oceans, he has spent twelve years putting the camera to work for conservation — from the kelp forests off his own coast, where he works from his Boston Whaler, to the Serengeti, the Ethiopian highlands and the shark grounds of South Australia and Mexico.
His subject is the animals the world calls dangerous: sharks, big cats, crocodiles, met on their own terms and photographed at eye level after the long hours of waiting that ethical wildlife work asks for. Along the way he has taken part in scientific surveys and sample collection alongside marine researchers. Off the water he is an entrepreneur in telecom and business messaging, which is what funds the expeditions and the nonprofit.
- 500+Dives logged
- 70+Countries
- 4Oceans
- 12Years in conservation
The work
The collection on this site is split the way the expeditions are: Land, Ocean and Landscape. The land frames come from East Africa — lions, leopards and cheetahs on the Serengeti, elephants at Amboseli, geladas in Ethiopia's Simien Mountains. The ocean frames come from the water: great whites at the Neptune Islands and off Mexico, makos and blue sharks off California, bull sharks and the American crocodile on Mexico's Caribbean coast, sea lions at the Coronado Islands, orcas in the Pacific Northwest.
Every animal in the collection has its own guide — what it is, how it lives, why it matters, and the frames it appears in. Browse the animals →
