Eric Cheng (born January 9, 1975) is a

Taiwanese American Taiwanese Americans (traditional Chinese, Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人; pinyin: ''Táiwān yì měiguó rén''; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ''Tâi-Bí-jîn'') are Americans of Taiwanese people, Taiwanese ancestry, including American-born descendants of migrant ...

entrepreneur, professional photographer, and Emmy-nominated executive producer specializing in

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

, underwater photography, and aerial imaging. He is Head of Immersive Media at

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Reality Labs. Eric frequently gives talks about drones, photography, marine ecosystems, and technology, and has spoken internationally at events including: TEDxBerkeley, the Churchill Club, LeWeb, Photoshelter Luminance, CES, and

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and others. In 2016, Eric appeared in the Australian television series '' Tales by Light'', which is available on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

for international distribution. On February 3, 2015, Eric piloted a DJI Inspire 1 drone into the Holuhraun volcano eruption in the

Bárðarbunga Bárðarbunga (, alternative name Veiðivötn), is an active and productive stratovolcano located under Vatnajökull in Vatnajökull National Park which is Iceland's most extensive glacier. The second highest mountain in Iceland, above sea le ...

volcanic system in Iceland, broadcasting live for ABC's

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

. 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 (a Program of WildAid), and on the Board of Advisors of

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action t ...

. He was head photographer for '' Operation Musashi'', Sea Shepherd's campaign against the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctica in late 2008 / early 2009, which was also documented by

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...

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 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, San Jose,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Previously, Eric was Director of Aerial Imaging at DJI and Director of Photography at Lytro. Eric was born in 1975 in Madison, Wisconsin, to immigrant parents from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer science from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

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