Winners of UPY 2022 underwater photography competition announced

The jury has announced the winners of the highly prestigious Underwater Photographer of the Year – UPY 2022.

Just one look at the awarded photographs is enough to realise how difficult the jury’s choice was. However, the UPY 2022 organisers may have had a headache not only because of the high level, but also because of the number of photos submitted. This year’s edition of Underwater Photographer of the Year gathered a record number of 4200 competition entries! Artists from as many as 71 countries submitted their best photographs.

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Underwater Photographer of the Year 2022

The winner of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2022 category is Rafael Fernandez Caballero from Spain. His work ‘Dancing with the giants of the night’shows the moment the author captured as many as five whale sharks at once! These beautiful and gentle giants were feeding together at night, feeding on the plankton that can be seen in the boat’s lights.

It was already amazing when one whale shark came up to our boat. However, more and more kept coming. I dived with Gador Muntaner, a shark researcher who couldn’t believe how their numbers were growing. That night he counted 11 sharks – a once-in-a-lifetime encounter that no one thought possible – Fernandez explained.

Up and coming Underwater Photographer of the Year

One part of the mission behind the UPY competition is to promote new and talented photographers. This year, the Up and coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2022 category was won by Quico Abadal. The Spaniard received an award for his photograph ‘Supernova in paradise’.

Adabal took his photo at sunset in the waters of Sairee Beach on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand.

My work shows Jeniya moving so poetically in the water. What I like about this photograph is the imperfection of the backscatter in the dark water, which creates a sense of space and makes it perfect for me – Quico Abadal said.

If you’d like to see more of Quico’s photos and find out what he has to say about photography, you’ll soon have the opportunity. The Spaniard is one of the authors who are collaborating with us on the 20th issue of DIVERS24 Magazine. We have scheduled the publication of this issue for spring 2022.

In this category we are always looking for exciting new talent bringing fresh visions to underwater photography. This photo is a perfect example of that. A simple subject, elevated to an artistic image. All thanks to the imagination, ideas and talent of the photographer and model – concluded Alex Mustard, a legend of underwater photography and one of the jurors.

Other laureates

We invite you all to UPY 2022 competition pageso that you can meet the other winners. If you are sensitive to the beauty of the underwater world and are passionate about photography, it is definitely worth it! Especially since in recent years getting to many popular dive sites has not been so easy…

Travel restrictions over the past year may have stopped many photographers from visiting their favourite waters. Thankfully, this has not stifled their creativity. The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition aims to celebrate underwater photography in all its forms, and we’re delighted that many of this year’s award-winning images are from home countries and some are even taken in pools – concluded this year’s UPY Mustard.

Photo by Javier Murcia / UPY Behaviour – Runner Up ‘The circle of life’