The Winning Photos of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2016

Mar 07, 2016

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The winning photos have just been announced for the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2016 contest. The grand prize was awarded to Italian photographer Davide Lopresti for his image “Gold,” a portrait of a spiny seahorse.

“Over the years the Mediterranean’s population of seahorses has drastically reduced,” writes Lopresti. “Their numbers have only recovered thanks to public awareness and a significant restocking campaign.”

“Areas of the sea have now been set aside, protected from harmful fishing methods, like trawling. This has allowed vulnerable and delicate creatures, like sea horses, to return. This is what I hoped to celebrate with this image.”

For his prize-winning shot, he used a long exposure and camera panning to add some blur to the portrait. The seahorse was frozen with a beam of light from his strobe. “My aim was to give the scene a sense of grace and strength simultaneously,” he says.

Entries were received from 54 different countries around the world this year. Here are some of the other photos that were honored:

British Underwater Photographer of the Year (Winner)