2020 winners

Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020 results gallery

Welcome to UPY 2020, in my view the strongest collection yet! As always the category winners are jaw-dropping, but this year every single image is worthy of your attention. UPY always aims to showcase the diversity of disciplines and photographic styles that comprise 'underwater photography' and we love seeing photographers pushing the technical and artistic boundaries of the genre. We also appreciate classic images, when taken to new heights, and I am thrilled that UPY 2020 contains all these and more, with a real diversity of photos taken in waters from the polar oceans to the swimming pool.

2020 was another record breaker for UPY with entries rising to 5500, and the number of photographers also jumping up to 500! Thank you to those who continue to support UPY as well as those entering for the first time. We appreciate and enjoy seeing every image we receive. We were also pleased that the Underwater Photography Book of the Year category was the strongest yet, with a very tight field of excellent submissions, all would be a worthy addition to any underwater enthusiast’s bookshelf.

Alex Mustard, on behalf of UPY.

Award Winners

Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020: 'Frozen Mobile Home'
GREG LECOEUR (France)

Up and coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020: 'Lemon shark pups in mangrove nursery'
Anita Kainrath (Austria)

British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020: 'Rabbit Fish Zoom Blur'
Nicholas More (UK)

Most Promising British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020: 'Commotion in the Ocean'
Nur Tucker (UK)

Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2020: 'Last Dawn, Last Gasp'
Pasquale Vassallo (Italy)

Underwater Photography Book of the Year 2020: 'AQUA, mysteries of the underwater world'
Pietro Formis

Wide Angle

Winner: 'Frozen Mobile Home'
GREG LECOEUR (France)

Runner Up: 'Fotteyo overhangs'
Oleg Gaponyuk (Russian Federation)

Third: 'Sub Zero'
Tobias Friedrich (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Underwater Fashion'
Wayne Lai (China)

Highly Commended: 'Rabbit Fish Zoom Blur'
Nicholas More (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Beneath Starry Skies'
Sean Landsman (Canada)

Highly Commended: 'Zapote Bells'
Pekka Tuuri (Finland)

Commended: 'Her'
Jingle Guo & FDB (China)

Commended: 'Dragon Split'
J. Gregory Sherman (USA)

Commended: 'Over the Reef'
Nadia Aly (USA)

Macro

Winner: 'Goby Goodness'
Hannes Klostermann (Germany)

Runner Up: 'Eyes'
Keigo Kawamura (Japan)

Third: 'Favorinus Pigging Out'
Jack Israel (USA)

Highly Commended: 'Lemons'
Mika Saareila (Finland)

Highly Commended: 'Amphipod in HD'
yatwaiso (Hong Kong)

Highly Commended: 'Blennius ocellaris'
Alessandro Grasso (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'Dancing in the Dark'
Katherine Lu (USA)

Commended: 'Aegires sp. nudi crawls to a clubs shaped bryozoan'
Ludovic Galko-Rundgren (France)

Commended: 'Bling'
Lilian Koh (Singapore)

Commended: 'Torpedo attack'
yatwaiso (Hong Kong)

Wrecks

Winner: 'The Engine'
Tobias Friedrich (Germany)

Runner Up: 'Saudi Titanic'
Renee Capozzola (USA)

Third: 'Dead steel resurrection'
Pier Mane (South Africa)

Highly Commended: 'Panorama'
Taeyup Kim (Republic of Korea)

Highly Commended: 'Badai Wreck'
Yen-Yi Lee (Taiwan)

Highly Commended: 'A glance of deep sea exploration'
Pier Mane (South Africa)

Highly Commended: 'Parat and Fernedale'
Pekka Tuuri (Finland)

Commended: 'The Crow’s Nest'
David Alpert (UK)

Commended: 'Tanks'
Taeyup Kim (Republic of Korea)

Commended: 'Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” Bomber'
Marcus Blatchford (UK)

Behaviour

Winner: 'Octopus Training'
Pasquale Vassallo (Italy)

Runner Up: 'Say me'
Paolo Isgro (Italy)

Third: 'The birth'
Filippo Borghi (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'Mating Nudibranchs'
Steven Kovacs (USA)

Highly Commended: 'A Fever of Cownose Rays'
Alex Kydd (Australia)

Highly Commended: 'Turtle & Friends'
Henley Spiers (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Emperor among drummers'
Scott Portelli (Australia)

Commended: 'The Hunt'
Nadya Kulagina (Kazakhstan)

Commended: 'Great White Bite'
Kimberly Jeffries (USA)

Commended: 'Together'
Nadia Aly (USA)

Portrait

Winner: 'Butterfly Effect'
Lilian Koh (Singapore)

Runner Up: 'Angry seahorse'
Rooman Luc (Belgium)

Third: 'Crab-eater Seal'
GREG LECOEUR (France)

Highly Commended: 'High Five - A newly hatched hawksbill turtle'
Matty Smith (Australia)

Highly Commended: 'Close encounters'
Pedro Jarque Krebs (Peru)

Highly Commended: 'Reflection, Common frog (Rana temporaria)'
Mirko Zanni (Switzerland)

Highly Commended: 'Bargi Hope'
David Alpert (UK)

Commended: 'Chinese Opera Mask'
Wayne Lai (China)

Commended: 'Close encounters in the Swamps'
Mirko Zanni (Switzerland)

Commended: 'The White Goby'
Nicholas More (UK)

Black & White

Winner: 'Layered Thoughts'
Mok Wai Hoe (Singapore)

Runner Up: 'Constellation of Eagle Rays'
Henley Spiers (UK)

Third: 'Earthless'
Zena Holloway (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Jellyfish'
Henley Spiers (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Suspended'
James Ferrara (USA)

Highly Commended: 'Light bulb'
Filippo Borghi (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'Enemy Within'
Aaron Wong (Singapore)

Commended: 'Croc portrait'
Jacob Degee (Poland)

Commended: 'Turtle Cruising'
Michael Gallagher (UK)

Commended: 'Atlantic spotted dolphins'
Galice Hoarau (Norway)

Compact

Winner: 'ULUNA LILY'
MANBD (Malaysia)

Runner Up: 'Squid in Disco Fever'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Third: 'Jellyfish from Palau'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'In my place'
Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Coconut Octopus'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Corals from Moalboal'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Deep purple'
Andrea Michelutti (Italy)

Commended: 'Seven baby seahorses and a baby leatherjacket'
Mel Wu (Australia)

Commended: 'Corals in the morning'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Commended: 'Garden eel in the Sun'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Up & Coming

Winner: 'Lemon shark pups in mangrove nursery'
Anita Kainrath (Austria)

Runner Up: 'Commotion in the Ocean'
NUR TUCKER (UK)

Third: 'Minke Wave'
Ines Goovaerts (Belgium)

Highly Commended: 'People swim in the “Grotta Verde”'
Pier Paolo Cito (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'Bait Ball of Life'
Emilie Ledwidge (Australia)

Highly Commended: 'Tiger Splitting Jacks'
Richard Condlyffe (USA)

Highly Commended: 'Milky Way'
Goh Yen Ting (Singapore)

Commended: 'Crab on a Sea pen'
Marina Deriglazova (Russian Federation)

Commended: 'Heading for home'
Francis Glassup (France)

Commended: 'Dancing mantis shrimp'
Pascal Rusch (Switzerland)

British Waters Wide Angle

Winner: 'Jewel Reef'
Arthur Kingdon (UK)

Runner Up: 'Big Mouth, Small Prey'
Will Clark (UK)

Third: 'Fireworks anemone sunburst'
Trevor Rees (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Cuckoo in the blue (male cuckoo wrasse with kelp)'
Simon Temple (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Common Frog Resting on Trucks'
Ian Wade (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Octopus and the sunstar'
Mark Kirkland (UK)

Commended: 'Blue Shark in Motion'
Henley Spiers (UK)

Commended: 'A Bridge not far'
Dave Peake (UK)

British Waters Macro

Winner: 'Like Water for Silk'
Laura Storm (UK)

Runner Up: 'Cuckoo wrasse head on'
Trevor Rees (UK)

Third: 'Elegant Elegans'
Dan Bolt (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Atomic'
Laura Storm (UK)

Highly Commended: 'European Squid'
Paul Pettitt (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Scillonian Beauty'
Malcolm Nimmo (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Bobtail squid'
Atanas Petrov (UK)

Commended: 'Leopard'
Cathy Lewis (UK)

Commended: 'Sea grass slug'
Dan Bolt (UK)

Commended: 'Stalker in the meadow'
Dan Bolt (UK)

British Waters Living Together

Winner: 'Pier nursery'
Dan Bolt (UK)

Runner Up: 'Cone Home'
Kirsty Andrews (UK)

Third: 'Lucky Escape'
Shannon Moran (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Swanage Pier spider crab'
Andy Pearson (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Shipwreck Shelter'
Shannon Moran (UK)

British Waters Compact

Winner: 'Smile'
Colin Garrett (UK)

Runner Up: 'Fluo fireworks anemone'
James Lynott (UK)

Third: 'All in a good claws!'
Martin Edser (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Sea loch specialty'
James Lynott (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Million Miles Away'
Martin Edser (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Underwater sunset'
James Lynott (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Saint Peter’s fish'
Colin Garrett (UK)

Commended: 'Time and Plaice'
Martin Edser (UK)

Commended: 'Fluo baby shark'
James Lynott (UK)

Commended: 'They’re back'
Colin Garrett (UK)

Marine Conservation

Winner: 'Last Dawn, Last Gasp'
Pasquale Vassallo (Italy)

Runner Up: 'Double Trouble with a glimmer of hope'
David Alpert (UK)

Third: 'Tradition kills'
Scott Gutsy Tuason (Philippines)

Highly Commended: 'Cormorant caught in a net'
Kim André Sund (Norway)

Highyl Commended: 'Great White Necropsy'
Charlotte Sams (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Net Loss'
Simon J Pierce (New Zealand)

Highly Commended: 'Unnatural habitat'
Shane Keena (USA)

Commended: 'The Cry for Help'
Nadya Kulagina (Kazakhstan)

Commended: 'Turtle Haven'
Theresa Guise (USA)

Commended: 'Tuna fishery lifting the nets'
Rafael Fernandez (Spain)

Underwater Photography Book of the Year

Winner: 'AQUA, mysteries of the underwater world'
Pietro Formis

Recommended reading: 'Looking for Whales'
Wade & Robyn Hughes

Recommended reading: 'The Airplane Graveyard'
Brandi Mueller & Alan Axelrod

Recommended reading: 'Guide to Cebu including Malapascua & Moalboal'
Henley Spiers & Jade Hoksbergen

Recommended reading: 'Blue Mexico'
Fabrice Guerin

Recommended reading: 'The World Beneath'
Dr. Richard Smith

Recommended reading: 'Sabah an underwater journey'
Scubazoo

UPY 2025