Valerie May TaylorAM (born 9 November 1935) is an Australian conservationist, photographer, and filmmaker, and an inaugural member of the diving hall of fame. With her husband Ron Taylor, she made documentaries about sharks, and filmed sequences for films including Jaws (1975).
Born in Paddington, Sydney on 9 November 1935,[1] Valerie May Taylor spent her early years in Sydney. Her mother was a housewife and her father an engineer for Exide Batteries. The family moved to New Zealand in 1939 to set up a battery factory there, but were unable to return to Australia when WWII broke out.[2] At 12 years of age Taylor contracted polio during the 1948 polio epidemic. Isolated from her family, friends and schooling she slowly recovered with the support of the "Sister Kenny Treatment and Rehabilitation Method". Taylor fell behind in her studies and left school at 15 years of age to work for the NZ Film Unit drawing for an animation studio.[2]
Taylor returned to Sydney with her family to settle in the beachside suburb of Port Hacking, where she started diving in 1956 and took up spearfishing in 1960 to provide food for the family. She became an Australian champion scuba and spearfisher and met her future husband, Ron Taylor, at the St George's Spearfishing Club.[3][4][5]
In addition to their work in film, the Taylors have performed conservation work in Australia and elsewhere. They have campaigned to prevent oil exploration in Ningaloo Marine Park, the overturning of mining rights on Coral Sea Islands, the protection of the Great Barrier Reef prior to its being awarded World Heritage status, and they lobbied for marine sanctuary zones in South Australia.[9][10]
Taylor worked as an underwater photographer, with some of her work appearing in National Geographic magazine. In 1973, some macro images of coral and invertebrates on the Great Barrier Reef were featured on its front cover.[11]
During the early 1980s Taylor began experiments with sharks wearing a steel mesh suit. The 1981 front cover of National Geographic magazine featured Taylor, off the coast of California, during one of these experiments with blue sharks wearing a chainmail suit.[12]
Taylor remained active in lobbying in favour of marine conservation into the 21st century.[13] She campaigned against ocean plastic pollution overfishing.[14]
In 1981 Taylor was awarded the NOGI award for Arts, Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences, presented by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS).[17]
She was awarded the 1997 American Nature Photographer of the year award for a picture of a whale shark swimming with her nephew in Ningaloo Marine Park. By 2000 she was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame.[19]
In 2001, she was awarded the Serventy Conservation Medal for her work with Ron Taylor in promoting a greater understanding of the Great Barrier Reef and the need to protect its wildlife.
At 66 years old she was still diving with sharks, and was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in marine conservation and the Australian Senior Achiever of the Year.[20]
In 2008 Taylor received the Australian Geographic Lifetime of Conservation award.[21]
In 2010 Taylor was made a Member of the Order of Australia For service to conservation and the environment as an advocate for the protection and preservation of marine wildlife and habitats, particularly the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef, and as an underwater cinematographer and photographer.[20]
In 2021 a feature-length documentary film featuring archival footage as well as Taylor's life as an 85-year-old was made by Australian filmmaker Sally Aitken, called Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story. The film screened at the Sundance Film Festival.[22][23]
1997: American Nature Photographer of the year award (sponsored by the American Press Club) for a picture of a whale shark swimming with her nephew in Ningaloo Marine Park[9]
2008 – Australian Geographic Lifetime of Conservation Award[31]
2011 – Australian Cinematographers Society Hall of Fame[32]
Life membership of the St George Spearfishing & Freediving Club Inc. (date of conferral not stated)[33]
2012 – Renaming of the newly-declared Neptune Islands Group Marine Park surrounding the Neptune Islands in South Australia to the Neptune Islands Group (Ron and Valerie Taylor) Marine Park[34][35]
She has illustrated and written a children's colouring book, The Undersea Artistry (2017)[38] and published her memoirs in 2019, titled An Adventurous Life.[14]
Blue Wilderness (6 episodes)1992 cageless shark-diving expedition, 1992; with Richard Dennison for National Geographic and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation[41]
