Ocean Art 2022 Winners Announced

11th Annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Contest Winners Announced 

Ocean Art Contest Announces the World’s Best Underwater Photography 

Culver City, CA – January 17, 2023 – The prestigious Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced the results of the world’s largest underwater photo contest. It is clear from this year’s winning images that our community of underwater photographers have dived into a new and exciting post-pandemic era. An unprecedented caliber of photos was ushered in by the lifting of travel restrictions – including our best of show image featuring another teachable moment from an octopus. This photo, captured in Palm Beach, Florida by Kat Zhou, depicts the bittersweet final days between a mother octopus and her young before dying of old age. Ocean Art could not have been possible without the help of our generous sponsors who were responsible for the largest selection of prizes ever in an underwater photo contest – with over $100,000 in prizes awarded!

Winning photos can be seen at the Underwater Photography Guide at https://www.uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art-contest-winners-2022

This year’s competition introduced a new Mobile Phone category, which displayed the incredible abilities of a tool that almost ever ocean lover has in their pocket. We hope this category will inspire new underwater photographers and explorers to tell their own stories. Other extraordinary winners included extra-terrestrial blackwater scenes of the crazy domain of pelagic critters, images that brought hope and solutions for ocean conservation, exhibitions of imaginative photographic technique, and inspiring animal portraits. 14 different categories ensure a competitive contest for all levels and disciplines of underwater photography. The judges evaluated thousands of entries from 96 countries before selecting the final set of images as Ocean Art winners.

Ocean Art 2022 judges included prestigious underwater photographers Tony Wu, Mark Strickland, and Marty Snyderman. 

Prizes for Ocean Art 2022 are provided by some of the world’s top scuba diving resorts, liveaboard dive yachts, and underwater photo gear manufacturers. Grand prizes include a liveaboard dive cruise on the M.Y. Oceanic in Komodo, Flores, Alor, or the Banda Sea; a liveaboard dive cruise on the S.M.Y. Ondina in Raja Ampat, North Banda Sea, Triton Bay, Halmahera, or Cenderawasih Bay; choice of 7 or 8 nights for two aboard the Coralia in Raja Ampat or Komodo; a 14 night dive package at the new White Sands Beach Resort in Lembeh with Eco Divers; a trip on any Indonesian Damai liveaboard with Dive Damai; a trip to Malpelo aboard the Ferox liveaboard with Colombia Dive Adventures; a 7 night stay for two in Papua New Guinea with Wilindi Plantation Resort; a 7 day, 16 dive adventure in Raja Ampat with Meridian Adventure; a week long liveaboard trip to Cuba with Avalon Outdoor; a dive trip for two on the Carpe Novo in the Maldives with Carpe Diem Cruises; an 8 night all-inclusive dive package in Bohol, Philippines with Magic Oceans Dive Resort; a 14 night dive package in Raja Ampat, Indonesia at Kri Eco resort with Papua Diving Resorts; a 9 day trip to the Socorro Islands aboard Pacific Fleet’s Solmar V Liveaboard; and a variety of gift certificates from Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel. 

Premium travel prizes are provided by El Galleon/Asia Divers (Philippines), Explorer Ventures Fleet (Saba/St. Kitts), Villa Markisa (Bali, Indonesia), Komodo Resort & Diving Club (Komodo, Indonesia), Anthony’s Key Resort (Roatan, Honduras), Kusu Island Resort (Kusu Island, Indonesia), Blue Force (Maldives), Tawali Leisure & Dive Resort (Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea), The Three P Beach Resort (Romblon Island, Philippines), Mike Ball Dive Expeditions (Australia), Atmosphere Resorts & Spa (Dumaguete, Philippines), Intercontinental Hotel (Cozumel, Mexico), Spice Island Divers (Ambon, Indonesia), Havaiki Lodge (Fakarava, French Polynesia), Lumbalumba Resort (North Sulawesi, Indonesia), Sea Saba (Saba, Caribbean), and Eco Pro Divers (Maldives). Premium gear prizes are provided by Ikelite (DS160 II strobe), Marelux (SOFT Snoot & $500 Gift Certificate), Sea & Sea (YS-D3 Strobe), SeaLife (SportDiver smartphone housing), and Think Tank (Freeway Longhaul 75 Carryall duffel bag). 

As the world resumes activities once considered normal, Ocean Art 2022 is a testament to the promise of novel photographic talent and innovation ahead. The competition was overseen by Nirupam Nigam, Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and a partner in Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel. Nirupam commented, “The winners of Ocean Art 2022 surprised me. I expected an “instagramable” moment to steal the show. Instead, each image is that of photographic excellence or poetic reflection of the natural world around us. These images will be seared in my mind of years to come.” 

Complete List of Winners: 

Best of Show

“Octopus Mother” by Kat Zhou 

Wide Angle

1st Place Renee Capozzola

2nd Place Daniel Nicholson

3rd Place Martin Broen

4th Place Julian Gunther

Honorable Mention Josh Blank

Honorable Mention Adam Martin

Macro

1st Place Kat Zhou

2nd Place Matthew Sullivan

3rd Place Nicolas Remy

Honorable Mention Novrizal Herdananto

Honorable Mention Kat Zhou

Marine Life Behavior

1st Place Galice Hoarau

2nd Place Bryant Turffs

3rd Place Tom Shlesinger

4th Place Mirko Zanni

Honorable Mention Luc Rooman

Honorable Mention Mark Green

Portrait

1st Place Kuo-Wei Kao

2nd Place Gabriella Luongo

3rd Place Kim Briers

4th Place Andrew Cummings

Honorable Mention Frank Begun

Honorable Mention Jeff Molder

Honorable Mention Lorenzo Terraneo

Coldwater

1st Place Nicolas Remy

2nd Place Yannick Gouguenheim

3rd Place Jon Anderson

Honorable Mention Shouhao Ren

Honorable Mention Sage Ono

Nudibranch

1st Place Aleksei Permiakov

2nd Place Veronika Nagy

3rd Place Luke Gordon

Honorable Mention Mayumi Takeuchi-Ebbins

Honorable Mention Talia Greis

Blackwater

1st Place Dennis Corpuz

2nd Place Josh Raia

3rd Place Steven Kovacs

4th Place Marcello Zof

Honorable Mention Steven Kovacs

Honorable Mention Galice Hoarau

Underwater Conservation

1st Place Lawrence Alex Wu

2nd Place Caroline Power

3rd Place Gabriella Luongo

4th Place Celia Kujala

Honorable Mention Alessandro Giannaccini

Honorable Mention Daniel Pio

Underwater Art

1st Place Sarah Teveldal

2nd Place Julian Nedev

3rd Place Lilian Koh

Honorable Mention Jenny Stock

Black & White

1st Place Martin Broen

2nd Place Brooke Pyke

3rd Place Piers Baillie

Honorable Mention Renee Capozzola

Honorable Mention Richard Condlyffe

Compact Wide Angle

1st Place Enrico Somogyi

2nd Place Felix Beck

3rd Place Martina Favero

Compact Macro

1st Place Eunhee Cho

2nd Place Regie Casia

3rd Place David Pleuvret

4th Place Ipah Uid Lynn

Honorable Mention Martina Favero

Honorable Mention Andrew Michelutti

Honorable Mention Man Bd

Compact Behavior

1st Place PT Hirschfield

2nd Place Sheryl Wright

3rd Place PT Hirschfield

4th Place João Pontes

Honorable Mention Sofia K. Tenggrono

Mobile Phone

1st Place Buzzichelli Alessandro

2nd Place Chris Gug

3rd Place Grega Verc

The Underwater Photography Guide is the #1 destination for all things underwater photography. Featuring highly-regarded tutorials, technique tips, in-depth gear reviews, amazing international workshops and breaking u/w photo news, UWPG is here to help divers around the world achieve their photo and video goals. For more information, please visit http://www.uwphotographyguide.com