Underwater Photography Contest: Check out the best shots of 2021

If there is one world that arouses fascination and curiosity in practically everyone, it is the underwater universe. And the success of the Underwater Photography Contest is proof of this.

Therefore, in today's content, we are going to invite you to take a real trip to the bottom of the sea.

Through the photos that were successful in the 2021 edition of the competition, we will explore the fascinating underwater universe a little more.

What is the Underwater Photography Contest?

THE Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition is a well-known photography competition focused on photos involving the underwater world.

 Held for 10 years by the Underwater Photography Guide, every year the competition rewards the most impressive photos of marine life in general.

And the best part: to participate in the contest you don't need to be from a specific country. 

In it, photographers from all over the world can send their photos to compete for the prizes offered in the competition and, as a bonus, ensure that their work gains visibility among photography enthusiasts from all over the world.

The effects of the pandemic on the dynamics of the competition

Present in our lives since the beginning of 2020, the pandemic caused by Covid-19 also directly influenced the dynamics of the competition in these two years.

This is because, with the restrictive measures created to help contain the spread of the virus, travel and tourist activities ended up making life a little more difficult for the contest participants.

After all, in many countries it was not possible to travel to take pictures of marine life.

But the presence of the pandemic also served to stimulate the creativity of the photographers who participated in the competition.

After all, without the possibility of traveling in search of the perfect shot, many of them had to make an effort and use their creativity to take the best shots without having to travel.

Proof of this is the winning photo in the Best of Show category, considered the main one in the competition.

In the 2021 edition, the contest strayed a little from the obvious when choosing the winner and, instead of awarding a photo that depicts marine life animals, the contest chose a photo that depicts two freshwater fish.

The objectives of the Underwater Photography Contest

In addition to highlighting the owners of the best clicks, one of the objectives of Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition It is also about portraying, through photographs, the beauty and mystery that surrounds underwater life around the world.

Furthermore, the competition also seeks to draw attention to a very important topic: environmental preservation, with a greater focus on seas, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. 

The aim is that, through the clicks taken all over the world, we can better understand the need to preserve our nature and the creatures that are part of it.

Check out the best shots from the 2021 edition of the Underwater Photography Contest

So that you can learn more and get to know better the work of the photographers participating in this competition, we have listed here the top winners in the 13 categories present in the competition.

SPOILER: one photo is more beautiful than the other! They are:

Category: Compact Behavior

The winning image in this category was taken in Victoria, Australia.

In the image, we can see a female bigbelly seahorse during the transfer of eggs to the male seahorse's pouch.

The impressive click was taken by PT Hirschfield.

Category: Compact Macro

In this category, the winning photo was taken by Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge. Taken in Egypt, the photo shows dozens and dozens of Idiomysis shrimp.

Category: Compact wide angle

In this photo, taken by photographer Kate Rister, you can see the beauty of humpback whales as they swim with their calves. The photo was taken in Moorea, Tahiti.

Category: Black and White

Black and white photos also couldn't be left out of a contest like this.

And the winning photo of the 2021 edition was a photo of a diver while swimming inside a cave in the cenote – a well of crystal clear water – Zacil-Ha, located in Mexico.

The person responsible for the record was Tom St. George.

Category: Underwater art

Whoever said that underwater life is not a true work of art has not yet seen this photo taken by Jenny Stock.

In it, we can see fish of the royal gramma species as they swim in the waters of Cuba.

Category: Underwater conservation

In this category, the winning photo was of a diver next to a 'coral tree'. This type of structure is created to help rebuild corals.

The photo was taken in Barbados by Catherine Holmes

Category: Dark Waters

The depths of the ocean hide many mysteries.

And besides, deep waters can also reveal fascinating beauties.

This is the case of the photo taken by Steven Kovacs. In it, we can see a pair of 'flying' fish, which have fins that resemble wings.

The photo was taken in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Category: Nudibranchs

In this photo, taken by Salvatore Ianniello, in Italy, we can see a godiva, a type of sea slug.

Category: Cold waters

Would you dare to jump into freezing waters in search of the perfect shot? Matthew Sullivan did!

And that's how we got this shot. In the photo he took, salmon fish brave the icy waters as they swim up the river during the spawning season in Vancouver, Canada.

Category: Portrait

In the photo taken by Paolo Bausani, we see a fish with its mouth open that apparently even posed to look good in the photo. The winning photo in this category was taken in Italy.

Category: Marine life behavior

In addition to winning the main category of the contest, the photo taken by Luc Rooman also won the category focused on the representation of marine life.

Category: Macro

The winning photo in this category was taken by Nigel Motyer and shows a small fish feeding on plankton. The photo was taken in Indonesia.

Category: wide angle

In this category, the winning photo shows a group of pilot whales swimming peacefully in the Canary Islands, Spain. The photo was taken by Eduardo Acevedo

Category: Best of Show

The first place in the main category of the underwater photography competition was taken by photographer Luc Rooman.

In it, you can see two freshwater fish in the middle of a competition. The photo was taken during a night dive in Belgium.

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