At 57, ocean cinematographer Mike Prickett has triumphed over physical setbacks that could have been insurmountable. In 1984, already a professional photographer and avid surfer, Prickett was in a car crash that left him with multiple fractures in both legs. His doctors recommended swimming as the best form of therapy. While he was recovering, Prickett put a camera in waterproof housing and combined swimming with photography. It was the start of a career that took him around the world.
In 2012, while on location in Tahiti, Prickett went to the aid of a diver trapped in a down current. He saved the diver, but ran out of air. Prickett surfaced so quickly that he was stricken with decompression sickness (aka the bends). He survived but was paralyzed from the chest down. When his condition improved — he is now paralyzed from the waist down and says he continues to feel improvement — he went back to work.
In 2016, Prickett opened Salt + Air Studios, a production company specializing in ocean-related cinematography.
In 2021, Prickett was one of the cinematographers capturing the action in “100 Foot Wave,” the HBO documentary series that followed big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara’s preparations to surf a 100-foot wave in Portugal.
On Saturday, Prickett received a 2022 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for outstanding cinematography for a nonfiction program for his work on the show’s fourth episode, “Chapter IV: Dancing with God.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What was it about the fourth chapter that made that episode the one they picked for outstanding cinematography?
That’s a hard question really because I like a couple other ones better than that one. But to me, it’s just all about the riding of waves, kind of the dangers of surfing, and that one really shows some big accidents throughout the episode, so I think that might be it.
Were there any times shooting the series that you felt like you might be in danger?
Not really. We have a really good safety team for all of us out there. Even if you’re on a boat or whatever.
What are the logistics for you when you’re on a beach? How do you get around?
I use crutches. I basically walk around with crutches everywhere. And if I’m gonna go in the water, I go down on crutches and then I crawl into the water on my hands and knees and then I can swim … I’m paralyzed from the waist down, but I can hobble around.
And you mentioned you also play golf.
I golf like two or three times a week. I can hit in the mid-80s and I love it. … I use my clubs as crutches, and I get up there and I kind of line up the ball and I drop a club and I hit the ball.
Are there other things other than work that you enjoy doing?
I enjoy being a grandfather, that’s my most enjoyable thing, and then golf is very doable. I like making movies. And I got a few different businesses I’m doing in the water. We got a couple of cool adventures going on. And we got a cool boat that we’re getting, I like being out in the ocean. … We got this big thing that we’re going to be doing with Surfline and Red Bull coming up. (He later provided an update that the project is with Surfline.com and is called “Twenty Foot Plus.” It will document athletes surfing 20- to 100-foot waves around the world.) And I do a lot of live broadcasting. I like doing that. I still like being involved. … At one point, I thought I couldn’t (continue with photography), and then I thought I don’t need to do it, and then I thought, “Wait, I love doing this!” And I think if you stopped doing what you love, you probably age quicker and you’re probably not so excited to try to get better. And I do try to get better constantly because I love what I do.
