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.
Although the AI revolution has quickly changed the global photographic landscape, this year’s winners are a testament to humanity’s creative perseverance over machine. With new rules against the use of generative AI imagery in the primary categories, these photos are 100% real.
This year’s best in show image features a rare and fascinating portrait of a crab-eating macaque resolutely swimming through the ocean, captured by Suliman Alatiqi. The photo is a result of weeks of planning and documentation, and it represents the zeal and commitment needed to capture the world’s best underwater image.
Winning photos can be seen at the Underwater Photography Guide here.
This year’s competition separated the old Underwater Art categories into Underwater Digital Art and Underwater Fashion. As with the old Underwater Art category, the team removed editing rules for these to categories and allowed imaginations to fly.
Other extraordinary winners included never before seen behaviours, extra-terrestrial blackwater scenes, images that brought hope and solutions for ocean conservation, ingenious lighting techniques, and stunning animal portraits.
A total of 14 different categories ensure a competitive contest for all levels and disciplines of underwater photography. The judges evaluated thousands of entries from over 90 countries before selecting the final set of images as Ocean Art winners.
Ocean Art 2023 judges included prestigious underwater photographers Tony Wu, Mark Strickland, and Marty Snyderman.
As we embark on another exciting chapter, Ocean Art 2023 stands as a celebration of ever-evolving photographic artistry alongside technological innovation. 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, “As you can see from the judges’ comments, this year's competition emphasized the decision-making process for selecting the best underwater photos of 2023 – prompting reflection on the nature of a photo, AI, and AI tools. The winners epitomize pure photography.”
Best in Show
“Aquatic Primate” by Suliman Alatiqi
Wide Angle
1st Place: Suliman Alatiqi
2nd Place: Ines Goovaerts
3rd Place: Bryant Turffs
4th Place: Giancarlo Mazarese
Honourable Mention: Fabien Michenet
Honourable Mention: Ipah Uid Lynn
Macro
1st Place: Alberto Casati
2nd Place: Byron Conroy
3rd Place: Dennis Corpuz
4th Place: Lilian Koh
5th Place: Guillermo Viveros
Honourable Mention: Greg Sherman
Honourable Mention: Keith Mash
Marine Life Behaviour
1st Place: Kenji Sato
2nd Place: Josh Raia
3rd Place: Kat Zhou
4th Place: Johan Sundelin
Honourable Mention: Brandi Romano
Honourable Mention: Todd Aki
Portrait
1st Place: Suliman Alatiqi
2nd Place: Alessandro Raho
3rd Place: Jules Casey
4th Place: Gabriel Jensen
Honourable Mention: Celia Kujala
Honourable Mention: Kat Zhou
Coldwater
1st Place: Alessandro Giannaccini
2nd Place: Celia Kujala
3rd Place: Johan Sundelin
4th Place: Ferenc Lorincz
Honourable Mention: Josh Raia
Honourable Mention: Mayumi Takeuchi-Ebbins
Nudibranch
1st Place: Peter Pogany
2nd Place: Yen-po Huang
3rd Place: Jenny Stock
Honourable Mention: Cédric Péneau
Blackwater
1st Place: Keigo Kawamura
2nd Place: Peter Pogany
3rd Place: Jialing Cai
4th Place: Chris Gug
Honourable Mention: Kat Zhou
Honourable Mention: Steven Kovacs
Underwater Conservation
1st Place: Victor Huertas
2nd Place: Yinan Liu
3rd Place: Andrea Michelutti
Honourable Mention: Dan Mele
Underwater Digital Art
1st Place: Justin Lutsky
2nd Place: Francisco Sedano Vera
3rd Place: Conor Culver
Honourable Mention: Anna Aita
Black & White
1st Place: Joergen Rasmussen
2nd Place: Jon Anderson
3rd Place: Serge Melesan
4th Place: Enrico Pompei
Honourable Mention: Serge Melesan
Underwater Fashion
1st Place: Lucie Drlikova
2nd Place: Anna Aita
3rd Place: Julian Nedev
4th Place: Lucie Drlikova
Honourable Mention: Vanessa Torres Macho
Honourable Mention: Lucie Drlikova
Compact Wide Angle
1st Place: Bryat Turffs
2nd Place: Enrico Somogyi
3rd Place: Andrea Michelutti
Compact Macro
1st Place: Imogen Manins
2nd Place: Marcus Commodore
3rd Place: Regie Casia
Honourable Mention: Miguel Ramirez
Compact Behaviour
1st Place: Derek Singer
2nd Place: Brandon Hannan
3rd Place: Andrea Michelutti
Honourable Mention: Keri Frankenstein
Honourable Mention: Andrea Michelutti
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