Biography

RALPH B. WHITE
whitepixprod@msn.com

Ralph White enjoys a very distinguished professional career as an award-winning cinematographer, video cameraman and editor, with over 30 years of production experience and hundreds of motion picture and television credits to his name.

Ralph is one of the few people experienced in the methodology and technology required to safely reach the deep ocean depths in order to acquire images. In 1985, he documented the expedition that found the Wreck of the RMS Titanic, and in 1987 and 2000, he co-directed the salvage operation and photography during the recovery of over 5,000 artifacts from Titanic’s debris field. He was the submersible cameraman for the 1991 IMAX feature film Titanica, and in 1995-96, he was the expedition leader and second unit cameraman for James Cameron’s Academy Award winning feature film Titanic. White has made 35 dives to the –12,000 foot deep wreck of the Titanic, and has qualified as a copilot on the French Nautile and Russian Mir submersibles. He was operations supervisor of the Medusa ROV for James Cameron’s 3D IMAX film Ghosts Of The Abyss and technologies coordinator for James Cameron’s live broadcast from the deck of the ship for the Discovery Channel’s Last Mysteries of Titanic. Ralph was also the deep sea imaging and guest wreck expert for the History Channel’s Titanic’s Last Moments, which just aired last month.

For more than 25 years, Ralph has served as a contract cameraman for the National Geographic Society, where he and staff photographer Emory Kristof pioneered the development of advanced remote cameras, 3D Video, HDTV, and deep ocean imaging and lighting systems. Those assignments included the Discovery of Active Volcanic Vents along with their unique biological colonies in the deep waters of the east Pacific rise and Mid-Atlantic ridges; and the first multinational Exploration of Lake Baykal, in remote Siberia. He has filmed the world’s whales and sharks, including the largest ever seen flesh eating shark, a 30’ Somniosus Pacificus. He has been to both poles, and filmed the 153-year-old wreck of the HMS Breadalbane under the Arctic ice cap. Other NGS credits include Loch Ness, Suruga Bay, Wild Horses, Reptiles, Sharks, The Beebe Project, and The Great Whales, which won the coveted Emmy for Best Documentary. His cinematography has won the Grenoble Film Festival Gold Medal, Golden Eagle, Cindy, and Golden Halo awards.

White was one of the field producers and cameramen for the Alan Landsburg television series Those Amazing Animals and That’s Incredible, as well as Bill Burrud’s Animal World, Challenging Sea, Treasure, Islands In The Sun, True Adventures, The Wonderful World of Women, and Wanderlust. White was one of the innovators in documenting the behind-the-scenes makings of a major motion picture with Columbia’s The Deep, 20th Century Fox’s Tora-Tora-Tora, and The Valley Of The Dolls. He co-hosted and was a segment producer and cameraman for Jack Douglas’ Adventure and Journey series. He’s covered the thrills of victory for ABC’s Wide World of Sports, NBC’s Sports In Action, and CBS’ Sports Spectacular. His commercial credits include D.B. Needham, J. Walter Thompson, D.J.M.C., and the Honig, Cooper and Harrington advertising agencies.
Ralph is a highly qualified helicopter and astrovision aerial specialist, and a former member of the United States Parachute Team. He co-invented the Bell camera helmet which he used in filming free fall skydiving sequences for Ivan Tors’ Ripcord series.

Ralph White is a Knight, Order of Saint Lazarus and Knight, Order of Constantine for his filming and conservation accomplishments. His extensive field experience has been rewarded by his peers as: Fellow, The Royal Geographical Society; Fellow and recipient, the Lowell Thomas Award for life achievements from The Explorers Club; Fellow and current Chairman of the Board, The Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences, and is a Past President of the Adventurers Club. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Force Reconnaissance Team Leader, and is a highly decorated Reserve Forces Captain, who commanded the elite and award-winning Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Photographic Unit.

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R.M.S. TITANIC & Ralph B. White

1976: MEMBER OF THE ORIGINAL TEAM CONSISTING OF DR. ROBERT BALLARD FROM WOODSHOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE, EMORY KRISTOF FROM THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, AND BILL TATUM OF THE TITANIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY WHICH CONCEIVED OF THE IDEA OF FINDING THE WRECK OF THE R.M.S. TITANIC.

1978: CAMERAMAN FOR THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TEAM THAT DEPLOYED A -12,500 FOOT DEEP OCEAN IMAGING & LIGHTING SYSTEMS FROM THE U.S. COAST GUARD CUTTER "EVERGREEN" OVER THE REPORTED SINKING SITE OF THE TITANIC, 41 DEGREES 46 MINUTES NORTH, 50 DEGREES 14 MINUTES WEST.

1985: CAMERAMAN FOR THE FOUR MAN AMERICAN TEAM OF DR. ROBERT BALLARD, EMORY KRISTOF, AND BILLY LANG, BEGINNING PHASE ONE (THE SONAR SEARCH) FOR THE R.M.S. TITANIC ABOARD THE IFREMER RESEARCH VESSEL "LE SUROIT" UTILIZING THE FRENCH "S.A.R." SIDE SCAN SONAR SYSTEM.
CAMERAMAN FOR THE PHASE TWO (THE ELECTRONIC IMAGING SEARCH) ABOARD THE WOODSHOLE RESEARCH VESSEL "KNORR", WHICH FOUND THE WRECK OF THE TITANIC ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1985 UTILIZING THE TOWED VEHICLES "JASON” AND “ARGO".

1987: AMERICAN TEAM LEADER AND DEEP SEA IMAGER FOR THE TITANIC ARTIFACT RECOVERY EXPEDITION ABOARD THE IFREMER RESEARCH VESSEL "NADIR", UTILIZING THE DEEP DIVING SUBMERSIBLE "NAUTILE." TO DOCUMENT THE RECOVERY OF OVER 1,400 ARTIFACTS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL PRESERVATION AND TRUST FUND, WHICH WILL EXHIBIT THESE RELICS.

1991: IMAX CAMERAMAN AND NAVIGATOR FOR THE FEATURE LENGTH IMAX FILM "TITANICA", UTILIZING THE RUSSIAN RESEARCH VESSEL "KELDYSH" AND THEIR TWO SUBMERSIBLES "MIR I & MIR II" WHICH WERE EQUIPPED WITH THE NEWLY SUPERVISED DESIGN AND BUILDING OF THE 5,000 WATT H.M.I. LIGHTING SYSTEMS. 1992: CO-EXPEDITION LEADER FOR THE MAREX / R.O.V. TITANIC OPERATION ABOARD THE R/V SEA MUSSEL, WHICH RESULTED IN THE FAMOUS TITANIC OWNERSHIP LEGAL BATTLE.

1994: DEVELOPED SPECIALIZED PHOTOGRAPHIC & LIGHTING EQUIPMENT ALONG WITH PLANNING THE SECOND UNIT FILMING ON THE WRECK OF THE TITANIC FOR FILMMAKER JIM CAMERON.

1995: EXPEDITION LEADER AND SECOND UNIT CAMERAMAN ABOARD THE R/V KELDYSH FOR THE JIM CAMERON FEATURE FILM "TITANIC".

1999: CO-EXPEDITION LEADER, PHOTOGRAPHER, AND TITANIC LECTURER FOR THE TOURIST DIVES TO THE WRECK OF THE TITANIC WITH THE RUSSIAN MIR'S.

2000: DIRECTOR OF SUBMERSIBLE ARTIFACT RECOVERY, IMAGING FOR RMS TITANIC, INC’S. "OPERATION TITANIC 2000", WHICH RECOVERED OVER 900 SELECTED ITEMS FROM MY SEARCH AND SALVAGE PLAN.

2001: OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR FOR THE TITANIC DIVES OF THE "MEDUSA ROV" ON THE TITANIC FOR JAMES CAMERON'S 3-D IMAX FILM "GHOST OF THE ABYSS.

2005: TECHNOLOGIES COORDINATOR FOR JAMES CAMERON'S LIVE BROADCAST FROM THE DECK OF TITANIC FOR THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL'S "LAST MYSTERIES OF THE TITANIC".
DEEP SEA IMAGING AND GUEST TITANIC WRECK EXPERT FOR THE HISTORY CHANNEL’S "TITANIC'S LAST MOMENTS" WITH DEEP SEA DETECTIVES JOHN CHATTERTON AND RICHIE KOHLER.

CREDENTIALS:
NUMBER OF DIVES: 35 ABOARD A MANNED DEEP DIVING SUBMERSIBLE.
UNDERWATER HOURS ON TITANIC: 400+ HOURS [MORE THAN CAPTAIN SMITH].
FELLOW, THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY; FELLOW, THE EXPLORER’S CLUB; AND RECIPIENT OF THE LOWELL THOMAS AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN DEEP OCEAN EXPLORATION.
1992 NOGI AWARD AND FELLOW, ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE UNDERWATER ARTS.
CURRENT CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE ACADEMY OF UNDERWATER ARTS AND SCIENCES.
EXPLORER IN RESIDENCE, THE CANADIAN TITANIC SOCIETY.
PAST PRESIDENT, THE ADVENTURERS’ CLUB.
1998 DIVER OF THE YEAR / SCIENCE, THE UNDERWATER SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
MEMBER, THE DEEP SUBMERGENCE PILOTS ASSOCIATION.
LIFE MEMBER, THE U.S. NAVY SALVAGE DIVERS ASSOCIATION.
SPOKESPERSON FOR THE IMAX FILM "TITANICA" [OVER 45 PREMIERES].
TITANIC LECTURE SERIES [OVER 300 WORLDWIDE PRESENTATIONS].
SPECIAL TITANIC CONSULTANT, THE IRISH NATIONAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION.

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