2019 winners

Underwater photographer of the year 2019 results gallery

"I hope that you are as bowled over these winners as Martin Edge, Peter Rowlands and I were during the judging of the competition. UPY 2019 attracted more photographers than ever before, over 10% more than last year’s record numbers, and entries came in from 65 different countries, meaning competition was fiercer than ever. As much as I love the category and special award winners, it is the entire collection I value most because it celebrates excellence across the different disciplines of underwater photography. It is a reminder that while we are a specialist niche in the world of photography, ours is a very varied discipline. Please enjoy every single picture."

Alex Mustard, Chair of the jury, 2019

Award Winners

Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019, British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019: 'The Gauntlet'
Richard Barnden (United Kingdom)

Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019: 'Paradise'
Taeyup Kim (Korea)

Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2019: 'Caretta caretta turtle'
Eduardo Acevedo (Spain)

Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2019: 'Marine Compass'
Malcolm Nimmo (United Kingdom)

Underwater Photography Book Of The Year 2019: 'Uber Wasser, Unter Wasser'
Tobias Friedrich (Germany)

Wide Angle

Winner: 'Gentle Giants'
François Baelen (Reunion Island)

Runner Up: 'Curious Crabeater'
Jessica Farrer (USA)

Third: 'All we need is victory!'
Konstantin Killer (Germamny)

Highly Commended: 'Under cover of night'
Egor Nikiforov (Russia)

Highly Commended: 'Princess of the Underworld'
Thomas Heckmann (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Eclipse'
Edwar Herreño (Colombia)

Highly Commended: 'Intense'
yung-sen wu (Tiawan)

Commended: 'Mating Frogs'
Luc Rooman (Belgium)

Commended: 'West Coast Flowers'
Geo Cloete (South Africa)

Commended: 'Curios bear's cubs'
Mike Korostelev (Russia)

Macro

Winner: 'Fast cuttlefish'
Fabio Iardino (Italy)

Runner Up: 'Inside the eggs'
Flavio Vailati (Italy)

Third: 'Tiger Wave'
Henley Spiers (Philippines)

Highly Commended: 'Fluffy Love'
Lilian Koh (Singapore)

Highly Commended: 'Into the Spotlight'
Bruno Van Saen (Belgium)

Highly Commended: 'Diamond Stars'
Songda Cai (China)

Highly Commended: 'New life under raindrop'
Tam CH (Hong Kong)

Commended: 'Bluebonnet'
Matthew Sullivan (United States)

Commended: 'Bubbles'
Marcello Di Francesco (Italy)

Commended: 'Fireworks'
wen ming (China)

Wrecks

Winner: 'Big Guns'
René B. Andersen (Denmark)

Runner Up: 'Wreck of the Chrisoula K.'
Tobias Friedrich (Germany)

Third: 'The Bell'
Pekka Tuuri (Finland)

Highly Commended: 'Ghost Ferry'
Becky Kagan Schott (United States)

Highly Commended: 'The Yacht Gunilda'
Becky Kagan Schott (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Evening Stroll with Friends'
Ken Kiefer (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Cornelia B. Windiate'
Becky Kagan Schott (United States)

Commended: 'Bow of the SS Justicia'
Rick Ayrton (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'SS Le Polynesien'
Marcus Blatchford (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Exploring wreck'
Giorgos Rigoutsos (Greece)

Behaviour

Winner: 'The Gauntlet'
Richard Barnden (United Kingdom)

Runner Up: 'The Heat Run'
Scott Portelli (Australia)

Third: 'On the summit'
Fu Liang (China)

Highly Commended: 'New Life'
K.Zhang (Japan)

Highly Commended: 'Female pilot whale with dead calf'
Acevedo (Spain)

Highly Commended: 'Squid Love'
Yury Velikanau (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Sharks hunting'
Greg Lecoeur (France)

Commended: 'Final Love Act'
Pekka Tuuri (Finland)

Commended: 'Family portrait'
Mike Korostelev (Russia)

Commended: 'The Mystery Argonaut'
Songda Cai (China)

Portrait

Winner: 'Fly high and smile'
Nicholas Samaras (Greece)

Runner Up: 'Oh no, Godzilla'
Bruce Sudweeks (United States)

Third: 'Transgender Kobudai fish'
Fabrice Dudenhofer (France)

Highly Commended: 'Playful calf'
Greg lecoeur (France)

Highly Commended: 'Crab in the stream'
Pietro Formis (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'A Whole Lotta Lorenzini'
James Ferrara (United States)

Highly Commended: 'The Woman in Red'
Virginia Salzedo (Italy)

Commended: 'Sinister Pygmy'
Nicholas More (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'The mysterious'
Fu Liang (China)

Commended: 'la pescatrice'
Filippo Borghi (Italy)

Black & White

Winner: 'Between Two Worlds'
Henley Spiers (Philippines)

Runner Up: 'Mercury Tunnel'
Ken Kiefer (United States)

Third: 'Serena - Italian beauty'
Gianni Pecchiar (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'Urban Trout'
Pekka Tuuri (Finland)

Highly Commended: 'Platax under the boat'
Marco Gargiulo (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'Crab Catcher'
Nicholas More (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'The Alien'
Pekka Tuuri (Finland)

Commended: 'Black and blue'
Kirsty Andrews (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Shark Moon'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Commended: 'One giant Jump to the unknown'
Anders Nyberg (Sweden)

Compact

Winner: 'Hairy in the Sunrise'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Runner Up: 'Glow in the dark'
ManBD (Malaysia)

Third: 'Spanish Dancer and Clouds'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Reflection of a juvenile platax tera on a leaf'
Jack BERTHOMIER (New Caledonia)

Highly Commended: 'Octocoral with Model'
Andrea Falcomatà (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'Open mouth Grupper'
ifj. Lorincz Ferenc (Hungary)

Hughly Commended: 'Ruby on a milky diamond'
Andrea Michelutti (Italy)

Commended: 'The Trio (mom, calf and escort)'
Andy Schmid (Switzerland)

Commended: 'Freediving in a cave on the Island of Kefalonia'
Marcus Greatwood (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Mayhem'
Ipah UiD (Malaysia)

Up & Coming

Winner: 'Paradise'
Taeyup Kim (Korea)

Runner Up: 'My place under the boat'
Matej Bergoc (Slovenia)

Third: 'Sanctuary'
Remuna (United States)

Highly Commended: 'The Fall'
Martin GERARD (Belgium)

Highly Commended: 'Looking into the Light'
Adam Beard (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Red Knight'
Zarina Staller (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Window cleaner's nightmare'
Michal Bazala (Poland)

Commended: 'Swimming in harmony'
Emily Irving-Swift (Cyprus)

Commended: 'Jump!'
Pavlos Evangelidis (Uganda)

Commended: 'Mother'
Igor Bogachenko (Ukraine)

British Waters Wide Angle

Winner: 'Off the wall'
Robert Bailey (United Kingdom)

Runner Up: 'Jack Perks'
Jack Perks (United Kingdom)

Third: 'Fish soup'
Rick Ayrton (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Marine Compass'
Malcolm Nimmo (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Diver and tug boat propeller'
Trevor Rees (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Grey Seal face'
Greg Lecoeur (France)

Highly Commended: 'Pikey In Motion'
Nicholas More (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'The Loch Garden'
Mark Kirkland (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'The silent guns of the SMS Markgraf'
Steve Jones (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Scatter!'
Robert Cuss (United Kingdom)

British Waters Macro

Winner: 'Beauty in the Mud'
Arthur Kingdon (United Kingdom)

Runner Up: 'Swanage Sea Hare'
Paul Pettitt (United Kingdom)

Third: 'Proud Parent'
Mark Kirkland (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Feasting nudibranch'
Kirsty Andrews (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'What glows beneath'
Dan Bolt (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Undersea alien'
Kirsty Andrews (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Pipefish portrait'
Kirsty Andrews (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Red Blenny'
Cathy Lewis (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Juvenile Pollack'
Henley Spiers (Philippines)

Commeded: 'Butterfish and brittlestars'
Cathy Lewis (United Kingdom)

British Waters Living Together

Winner: 'Morning Tide Mackerel'
Victoria Walker (United Kingdom)

Runner Up: 'Lovely Legs'
Arthur Kingdon (United Kingdom)

Third: 'Valentine Tank'
Paul Pettitt ( United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Fine-dining octopus'
Kirsty Andrews ( United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Pier buddies'
Kirsty Andrews (United Kingdom)

British Waters Compact

Winner: 'Playtime?'
Martin Edser (United Kingdom)

Runner Up: 'Split Level Frog Spawning'
Ian Michael Wade (United Kingdom)

Third: 'Cornish Alien'
Andy Ball (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'A piece of history'
Willie Coghill (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Get out of my sun!'
Martin Edser (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Butterfish amongst the mussels'
Guy Mitchell (United Kingdom)

Highly Commended: 'Sea Loch Anemone'
James Lynott (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'New Years Day in a UK Lake'
Marcus Greatwood (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Rock Pool Reflections - Low Tide'
Elizabeth Sanderson (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Beacon Cove Cuttlefish'
Guy Mitchell (United Kingdom)

Marine Conservation

Winner: 'Caretta caretta turtle'
Eduardo Acevedo (Spain)

Runner Up: 'Killing angels'
João Rodrigues (Portugal)

Third: 'Silent Killer'
Noam Kortler (Israel)

Highly Commended: 'Shark Classroom'
Sirachai Arunrugstichai (Thailand)

Highly Commended: 'Drowned Turtle'
Shane Gross (Canada)

Highly Commended: 'Switch'
Ping Sun (China)

Highly Commended: 'Bloodied Head of a Baby Dugong at Necropsy'
Sirachai Arunrugstichai (Thailand)

Commended: 'Plastic bag eating turtle'
Saeed Rashid (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'Prawns and Bycatch'
Aaron Gekoski (United Kingdom)

Commended: 'The Big Groupers of the Medes Archipelago'
Damien Mauric (United Kingdom)

Underwater Photography Book of the Year

Winner: 'Uber Wasser, Unter Wasser'
Tobias Friedrich (Germany)

Special Recognition: 'Blue Planet II'
James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow (United Kingdom)

More: 'Recommended reads'
Various photographers

UPY 2025