Nostalgie Pelsener
Nature & Freedive PhotographER
I’m a self-taught photographer currently based in Brussels, Belgium. Born next to the Ocean, but ripped from it at the youngest age to be raised in the Belgian countryside, in the midst of forests and ponds, I’ve always found both fascination and solace in the natural world. As I became adult, the Ocean caught up to me and so my passion for marine life grew stronger every day. Now, it’s only natural that I choose to specialise in ocean conservation and nature photography
Why freediving?
I started freediving in February 2022, after a year and a half spent travelling and working in Corsica, Iceland, Southern France and Tenerife, where I also managed to pass some advanced scuba-diving certifications in-between lockdowns.
I wanted to learn to evolve underwater without all the bulk and to gain the physical skills I thought I needed to take pictures underwater in the least intrusive way. Little did I know back then about how much the mental skills far surpass the physical ones. But the goal was, and still is, to be prepared to eventually put those aquatic skills to the service of conservation photography.
I quickly fell madly in love with the sport itself, so it became much more than a means to an end. Freediving will make you grow every day by confronting you to your own limitations and encouraging you to overcome them, in and out of the water.