See the winning entries from the 2022 Ocean Photographer Of The Year.
The Ocean Photographer of the Year is a celebration of our beautiful blue planet, as well as a platform to highlight the many plights it is facing.
This year’s Ocean Photographer of the Year title has been awarded to the French photographer Ben Thouard and his magnificent photo of a surfer overwhelmed by a huge wave in Teahupo’o, French Polynesia. Second place went to Katherine Lu for her photo of a blanket octopus taken during a night dive in the Philippines and the final place was given to Brook Peterson and her surprising photograph of a cormorant plunging into the middle of a gigantic shoal of baitfish.
The Ocean Photographer of the Year consists of nine categories and there is just one overall winner.
The categories are broad in their focus and open to a little personal interpretation. This is to make the Awards as inclusive as possible and to ensure the bravest and boldest photographers out there aren’t dissuaded from entering because their images don’t fit prescriptive categories. Underwater, topside, on the coast or out at sea, if you feel your ocean image has the chance to connect emotionally with the judges, they’d love to see it. Click the links below for more details.
Links
https://oceanographicmagazine.com/opy/#13
https://www.instagram.com/opy_awards/
Overall Winners
BEN THOUARD
A surfer battles with the underwater turbulence created by the ‘heaviest wave in the world’,
Teahupo’o, which translate as ‘place of skulls’.
French Polynesia
Katherine Lu
A blanket octopus shows off its beautiful patterns and colours.
Philippines
Brook Peterson
A cormorant dives through a huge school of baitfish, creating a series of shapes that mimics that of a
human face.
United States
Adventure
Tom St George
A cave diver surveys an underwater cave system, surrounded by gigantic formations that
have taken millennia to form.
Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Conservation (Hope)
Nicolas Remy
An aggregation of critically endangered grey nurse sharks of the coast of New South Wales.
Australia
Conservation (Impact)
Simon Lorenz
An Olive Ridley sea turtle entangled in a mass of ocean debris.
Sri Lanka
Female Fifty Fathoms Award
A playful sea lion looks at its reflection in Brooke’s camera.
Fine Art
Michael Spencer
Waves break on a misty morning in Scarborough.
United Kingdom
Human Connection
Steve Woods
A freediver interacts with a sperm whale amidst a cloud of Sargassum weed.
Dominica
Portfolio
A young humpback whale surfaces to breathe and rest.
Wildlife
Rafael Fernandez Caballero
A pod of pilot whales pose for a family portrait.
Spain
Young
Ryuta Ogawa
A green turtle hatchling takes a breath before its first great journey.
Japan