(George Kao。/ Kuo-Wei Kao / 高國維)
This is the official website of George Kao (Kuo-Wei Kao / 高國維).
George Kao
Science | Algorithms | Underwater Ecology Documentary Cinematography & Photography
George Kao, PhD (高國維博士) is a Taiwan-based underwater cinematographer and photographer.
He holds a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from National Tsing Hua University.
He is an award-winning underwater imaging professional, having received over 30 national and international awards and recognitions to date, with new awards continuing to be added, across underwater ecology, scientific photography, and non-fiction documentary-related competitions.
George Kao’s visual practice originated during his Ph.D. training in life sciences, where he began scientific photography under the guidance of his academic advisor.
Working with biological model organisms such as fruit flies (Drosophila), he developed an early close-focus wide-angle approach to visualizing living systems—an approach that later evolved naturally into his underwater ecological photography and documentary cinematography.
This website (www.george-kao.com) is the official website of George Kao, presenting his underwater photography, documentary cinematography, public-sector projects, and scientific research–related visual documentation.
He has contributed underwater cinematography and still imagery to an environmental documentary produced in collaboration with Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) as part of its 80th anniversary documentary project.
The work involved filming underwater ecology and coastal marine environments, including shoots conducted in the waters surrounding Nuclear Power Plant No. 3 (Maanshan), as well as visual documentation connected to projects involving Taiwanese nature writer Liu Ke-Hsiang (劉克襄).
His documentary work is supported by a professional underwater imaging workflow, incorporating Nauticam housing, Canon R5 Mark II, Olympus E-M1 Mark II, SUPER DMAX strobes, Keldan video lights with controlled color temperature, and Kraken strobes and external HDMI monitoring, enabling precise underwater framing and camera movement aligned with a still-photography–driven visual approach.
His role in these productions includes underwater ecological cinematography, still photography for documentary storytelling, and the creation of visual materials supporting environmental and cultural narratives.
Long before formal training, awards, or professional work, George Kao’s relationship with water began in early childhood.
He recalls being four or five years old, sharing a bathtub with his younger brother, wearing a mask and snorkel their parents had bought during a seaside trip. He would quietly submerge his face in the bathtub, spending long stretches simply observing the underwater world.
At the ocean, he was drawn less to the shore than to what lay beneath the surface. While others played above water, he preferred to put on a mask, immerse his face, and remain still—watching for as long as possible. That sustained act of looking, unhurried and attentive, became a natural habit long before he ever picked up a camera.
For George Kao, pressing the shutter is fundamentally the same as striking a guitar string on stage.
Whether in a rehearsal room or during a live performance, the most meaningful moments in music often emerge from improvisation—experiences that cannot be repeated and exist only in the present moment.
This creative trajectory continues underwater.
Although his training is rooted in science and engineering, and his work is often carefully planned—considering tides, light, and biological behavior, much like writing a score and rehearsing before a performance—the moment he enters the water, faced with shifting currents and living organisms, the process becomes an act of improvisation.
Many of his most resonant images do not arise from rigid scripts, but from moments of direct engagement with the natural environment itself. In those moments, technique recedes into the background, intuition takes over, and the camera becomes a means of response—resulting in visual records that cannot be replicated.
Live at Legacy Taipei, 2010. The stage lights have turned into sun rays, but the rhythm remains