Eric Cheng (born January 9, 1975) is a
Taiwanese American entrepreneur, professional photographer, and Emmy-nominated executive producer specializing in
virtual reality, underwater photography, and aerial imaging. He is Head of Immersive Media at
Facebook Reality Labs.
Eric frequently gives talks about drones, photography, marine ecosystems, and technology, and has spoken internationally at events including:
TEDxBerkeley,
,
,
,
, and
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
and others.
In 2016, Eric appeared in the Australian television series ''
Tales by Light
''Tales by Light'' is an Australian documentary reality television series airing on National Geographic. The program is branded content and a joint venture between National Geographic and Canon which follows a number of professional photographer ...
'', which is available on
Netflix for international distribution.
On February 3, 2015, Eric piloted a DJI Inspire 1
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
into the
Holuhraun volcano eruption in the
Bárðarbunga volcanic system in Iceland, broadcasting live for ABC's
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
.
Eric started
Wetpixel, an
underwater photography community website, and is active as a marine conservationist. He previously served on the Board of Directors of
Shark Savers
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
(a Program of
WildAid),
and on the Board of Advisors of
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
He was head photographer for ''
Operation Musashi
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society engages in various demonstrations, campaigns, and tactical operations at sea and elsewhere, including conventional protests and direct actions to protect marine wildlife. Sea Shepherd operations have inclu ...
'', Sea Shepherd's campaign against the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctica in late 2008 / early 2009, which was also documented by
Animal Planet for
Whale Wars Season 2.
Aside from lecturing and writing about photography, he is a concert cellist and software engineer. Eric has been seen on stage with
Vienna Teng
Cynthia Yih Shih (born October 3, 1978, Saratoga, California), better known by her stage name Vienna Teng, is an American pianist and singer-songwriter who was based in Detroit, Michigan and now lives in Washington, DC. Teng has released five s ...
in
San Francisco,
San Jose,
Houston, and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
Previously, Eric was Director of Aerial Imaging at
DJI
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. or Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies Ltd. ( zh, c=深圳大疆创新科技有限公司, p=Shēnzhèn Dà Jiāng Chuàngxīn Kējì Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) in full, more popularly known as its trade name DJI, which s ...
and Director of Photography at
Lytro
Lytro, Inc. was an American company founded in 2006 by Ren Ng which developed some of the first commercially available light-field cameras. Lytro began shipping its first generation pocket-sized camera, capable of refocusing images after being ta ...
.
Eric was born in 1975 in Madison, Wisconsin, to immigrant parents from
Taiwan. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer science from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
.
References
The Next Eco-Warriors: Eco-Warrior Profile: Eric Cheng Retrieved June. 18, 2009.
Nature's Best Photography Awards Winners (Fall, 2005). Nature's Best Magazine.
* Sea & Sea Underwater Photography
Retrieved May. 9, 2006.
(2006). DiveFilm.
Notes
External links
*Eric Cheng'
photography portfolioEric Cheng on IMDbTEDxBerkeley talk about flashlight fish, sperm whales and giant squid
video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Eric
Aerial photographers
American photographers
American people of Chinese descent
American people of Taiwanese descent
Stanford University alumni
Living people
Underwater photographers
1975 births