“We do not realize the paradise we have”

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Early last year, a whale saved Maxi Jonas from a long and costly illness. After six years of pain, medical consultations and on the verge of losing his voice, the photographer went about his daily activity and, as he usually did, filmed a beautiful video with a drone in which a whale could be seen dancing and pushing with one fin. a stand up paddle board from a Puerto Madryn neighbor.

The repercussion generated by these images made the video reach the entire country, including a doctor who diagnosed Maxi by hearing only his voice. It could be said that the Patagonian photographer’s cure came through viralization.

Maxi knows this concept from the beginning, because at the beginning of social networks, the man born in Trelew always shared his photos with his “friends” and Facebook followers. However, the scope of his images grew and led him to be a recognized and admired photographer in the international media, thanks to the whales.

Who is Maxi Jonas, the whale photographer

Maximiliano Jonas is 44 years old and began his career as a photojournalist at the Trelew newspaper El Chubut. After a sighting for the opening of the whale season in Puerto Madryn, he decided to stay in the coastal city and there he developed his professional career.

“I started working as a photojournalist, I still am. I covered a bit of everything, one day a football match, another day an accident… that’s how it was until they told me ‘you have to go cover the whale season’. They sent me because they liked the images he made, they noticed that he was always looking for something different, different ”, he recounts in a telephone dialogue with VOS, when asked about his beginnings.

Whales in Puerto Madryn. (Courtesy Maxi Jonas)

That first time on a boat to go whale watching was what changed his life. “When I got on a boat for the first time, it generated something for me and from there I began to work on those photos and images for the province. Then I came to live in Puerto Madryn and here 20 years ago the city was very small, there was not much work in terms of photographing events for the newspaper”, he continues.

“What made me the definitive click was when, working for El Chubut, I went to El Doradillo. That beach is the best place in the world to see whales because you can walk among 50 whales and have them 20 meters away”.

El Doradillo is 20 km from Puerto Madryn and is part of the Valdés Peninsula, a natural reserve declared a World Heritage Site in Argentina by Unesco. The peninsula is home to the largest breeding population of southern right whales, with more than 2,000 cataloged by the Whale Conservation Institute and the Ocean Alliance.

For more than 20 years, Maxi Jonas photographed them and the importance of the protection and conservation of whales allowed the photographer to reach places that he never managed to measure. “It is a dream for me what happens with the whales. They have called me from all over the world ”, he assures after reflection.

– Were you able to go to another part of the world to take pictures? To another species of whales?

–I was in Norway in 2017. Invited by a photographer who was from India. While waiting for the arrival of Orcas -which are usually many hours, even days, until they come to shore- one spends time talking and we became friends. That year I went to photograph the humpback whales “Hubartas”. It was an incredible journey. They recently invited me to Colombia, but the situation now conditions us a lot due to the issue of the economy. I am still a worker, I look for them as I can and I am not enough to pay myself 15 days abroad.

Southern right whale with open mouth. (Courtesy Maxi Jonas)

“Although it would be a dream to go and photograph them all over the world, here in Patagonia we proudly have the southern right whale, which is the species that has recovered the most since they stopped being hunted. This is the best place and it is ours, it is in Argentina”, Maxi describes.

Among the thousands of comments that Jonas reaps in his posts about whales, that is usually the most common. Beyond the emotion and the praise, what stands out is the privileged place to see them, observe them and take care of them. “We have them in Argentina!”, “They are so close and at the same time so far”, “Who could go look at them every day”, several Internet users also commented on their networks: @maxijonas.

– Is your images circulating around the world due to sustained work over the years or one day from a photo on networks your message box exploded with proposals?

–I always had my job and since the boom of the networks I shared my photos on my accounts. Today I share my drone videos. Sometimes I don’t fall or realize what’s going on with my content. I have been a collaborator of the Télam agency for many years. Also, I was a contributor to Reuters, now I’m for the Associated Press and for the Russian news agency Ruptly. My photos came out in England or in the New York Times, for example. I have always worked for foreign agencies precisely for this, for the place that Patagonia has in the eyes of the world. This place is amazing, unique. Some people can’t believe everything we have here.

–What does the fact that each of your content goes viral generates for you?

–As I was saying, I always uploaded my photos to the networks. Since Facebook exploded until today that I share them on TikTok. The craziest thing is that yes, I get thousands of messages with each publication and in all of them I can see the deep emotion of the people, not only for the whales but also for my work. It seems like a lot to me and I don’t know if it falls to me. I owe a lot to the viralization of my images. Surely you are aware that through this I was cured of an illness.

“I’m going to cure your voice”

“You don’t know me but I’m going to cure your voice,” Iris Rodríguez, a laryngologist at the Italian Hospital in Buenos Aires, told him. The doctor heard her voice and diagnosed that it was a virus. “It’s typical of the papilloma,” she added and explained to Maxi on the phone the day she called him.

The viral article about the whale was read in Clarín by Iris’s husband, and the founder of the Argentine Voice Society launched a campaign to contact the photographer. “I traveled to Buenos Aires, got a referral from my social work and was treated by the best team of laryngologists in the country. Iris is an angel to me. And they cured me!” says Maxi, moved.

Maxi Jonas with his “angel”, Dr. Iris Rodríguez. (Courtesy Maxi Jonas)

“I am not religious nor do I delve into meditations but everything that happens to me has to do with whales, it is very crazy”, he closes.

Photojournalism and the news of the photographic profession

What is photojournalism for you?

–It is a VIP pass for all events. It is being on the front line of what is happening. It is to be ahead of everything, first ask and then shoot. It is telling stories with your gaze, always with your own imprint.

What has changed in the trade since you started? Any message for those who want to dedicate themselves to photography?

–The tools and places where our photos circulate perhaps. Photography is passion and it is a lot of work. It’s hours and hours, in fact, there are more things that I can’t achieve. Today it is said that the profession is trying to disappear or it is believed that there will be no more photographers. It seems to me that we must continue to permanently venture into new technologies and we must gradually adapt to current times and the ways of communicating. You have to train visually. The best camera there is is the one you have in your hand, it is about creativity and your own imprint. I haven’t taken my best photo yet.