Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 Unveils Global Winners
The annual Underwater Photographer of the Year competition has announced its 2026 winners, drawing thousands of entries from across the globe. This prestigious event brings together extraordinary images from beneath the water's surface, showcasing the stunning diversity and pressing challenges of subaquatic life. All photographs are courtesy of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026, highlighting both artistic mastery and environmental awareness.
Grand Prize and Category Highlights
Matty Smith claimed the top honor as Underwater Photographer of the Year with Rockpool Rookies, captured on Sea Lion Island in the Falklands. The image depicts young elephant seal pups learning to swim in shallow rockpools after being weaned and abandoned by their parents. Smith described rushing into the water at sunset to capture the fleeting moment, which became the defining highlight of his trip.
In the British Waters category, Tom Ingram won with Macro Mum, shot off Porthkerris beach in Cornwall. The photograph captures a female octopus during the UK's year of the octopus, showcasing her final act of selflessness as she guards her eggs without feeding, ultimately dying after they hatch. Ingram aimed to narrate her poignant final weeks through this face-on composition.
Conservation and Artistic Excellence
The Save our Seas Foundation Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year award went to Khaichuin Sim for Where Innocence Meets Tradition. This powerful image from the Faroe Islands shows a young boy sitting on a slain pilot whale amid blood-red waters during the controversial annual hunt, sparking questions about tradition, ethics, and generational change.
Renee Capozzola earned recognition in multiple categories, including a runner-up in Coral Reefs for Sunset Patrol. Shot in Fakarava, French Polynesia—a UNESCO biosphere reserve—the image features a shark patrolling a vibrant coral reef at sunset. Capozzola hopes it serves as a model for successful conservation, emphasizing sharks as indicators of a balanced ecosystem.
Diverse Global Perspectives
The competition celebrated a wide range of underwater environments and subjects:
- Jinny Kim placed third in Up and Coming Photographer of the Year with Shared Time, taken in Mexico's Nohoch Nah Chich cave system. Kim described the experience as a profound shift into the distant past, capturing the convergence of nature, humanity, light, and darkness.
- Ventura Romero was runner-up in Behaviour for Together We Can!, documenting sperm whales in the Indian Ocean protecting a diver from an oceanic whitetip shark by forming a head-forward formation.
- Sam Blount won Up and Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year with Lunging Leopard Country, fulfilling a dream encounter with a playful leopard seal in Antarctica.
Technical and Creative Mastery
Photographers demonstrated exceptional skill in various techniques:
- Fabian Becker (runner-up, Macro) used backlighting in Jaws Country to isolate a lizardfish's jawline in the Philippines, creating a sculptural effect.
- Shunsuke Nakano (winner, Black and White) employed monochrome in Coral Window to contrast human-made lines with natural patterns in a Japanese wreck, where gorgonians reclaim metal.
- Andrea Michelutti (winner, Compact) captured Alpine Lookout in Italy's Lake Cornino, utilizing Snell's window to frame mountain peaks through a cone of light underwater.
Other notable winners include Cecile Gabillon Barats (Wide Angle) for a playful juvenile sperm whale encounter in Dominica, Evan Johnston (British Waters Wide Angle) for shark torus behavior in Scotland, and Simon Theuma (third, Macro) for a seastar and shrimp image evoking Aboriginal art in Australia.
The Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 competition not only highlights artistic brilliance but also underscores critical marine conservation issues, from coral reef health to ethical traditions. These images invite viewers to explore the hidden wonders of our oceans while reflecting on the urgent need to protect these fragile ecosystems for future generations.
