2026 Winners

Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 results gallery

"Welcome! The whole UPY Team invites you to enjoy the stunning winning images from the 2026 Underwater Photographer of the Year competition. They don’t disappoint.

I’d like to congratulate all the amazing winners and thank all the photographers who entered and entrusted UPY with your fantastic photography.

Once again, our winning images were taken across the oceans from the poles to the tropics, we have pictures from the open ocean to mountain lakes and the collection includes photos taken on deep wrecks, in underground caves, in shallow rockpools, and even in enclosed water, like swimming pools."

Alex Mustard (Chair of the UPY Jury)

Award winners

Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026: 'Rockpool Rookies'
Matty Smith (Australia)

Matty Smith from Australia talks about his shot which won him the title of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026.

This shot also won the British Underwater Photographer of the Year title.

Up & Coming Photographer of the Year 2026: 'Lunging Leopard'
Sam Blount (United States)

Sam Blount from the US talks about his shot which won the Up & Coming category in UPY2026.

'Save Our Seas Foundation' Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2026: 'Where Innocence Meets Tradition'
Khaichuin Sim (Malaysia)

Khaichuin Sim from Malaysia talks about his shot which won the 'Save our Seas Foundation' Marine Conservation category in UPY2026.

Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2026: 'Crowded House'
Natalie Yarrow (UK)

Natalie Yarrow from the UK talks about her shot which won the award of Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2026.

Wide Angle

Winner: 'Happy Baby'
Cecile Gabillon Barats (France)

Cecile Gabillon Barats from France talks about her shot which won the Wide Angle category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Chamber of Life'
Jinny Kim (Korea, Republic of)

Third: 'Halocline'
Alex Dawson (Sweden)

Highly Commended: 'Tiger Tiger'
Nicholas More (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Masters of the Frozen Realm'
Lars von Ritter Zahony (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Concise Chaos'
James Ferrara (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Mobula Rays Assemble'
Nicolas Hahn (Argentina)

Commended: 'Contact'
Dan Taylor (Mexico)

Macro

Winner: 'Calm at the Heart of Turmoil'
SeongCheol Cho (Republic of Korea)

SeongCheol Cho from the Republic of Korea talks about his shot which won the Macro category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'JAWS'
Fabian Becker (Germany)

Third: 'A Time to Dream'
Simon Theuma (Australia)

Highly Commended: 'Featherhome'
Luis Arpa (Spain)

Highly Commended: 'Diamond Squid defensive pose'
Boz Johnson ( United States)

Highly Commended: 'Shelter in the flames'
Zlati Zlatev (Bulgaria)

Highly Commended: 'Bubble Storm'
Theo Maynier (France)

Commended: 'Bobbit in the Dark'
J. Gregory Sherman (United States)

Wrecks

Winner: 'The Guns of the Nagato'
Niclas Andersson (Sweden)

Niclas Andersson from Sweden talks about his shot which won the Wrecks Category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Living wreck'
Jean-Baptiste Cazajous (France)

Third: 'Silent Heart'
Atsushi Hori (Japan)

Highly Commended: 'Wrecks'
Nicolai Posininsky (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'One Breath Explorer'
Wojciech Dopierala (Poland)

Highly Commended: 'Propeller of the HMHS Britannic'
Dr. Steffen G. Scholz (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Spooky Sharkplane-O'
Dan Mele (Virgin Islands, U.S.)

Commended: 'Where silence weighs tons, and giants sleep.'
Anastasia Schmuck (Switzerland)

Behaviour

Winner: 'Clownfish Hatchout'
Kazushige Horiguchi (Japan)

Kazushige Horiguchi from Japan talks about his shot which won the Behaviour category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Together we can!'
Ventura Romero (Spain)

Third: 'Egg Clutcher'
Anton Sorokin (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Connected'
JingGong Zhang (China)

Highly Commended: 'Whale Heat Run'
Katherine Lu (Singapore)

Highly Commended: 'Bait Ball Explosion'
Andy Lambert (Belgium)

Highly Commended: 'The swift predator of Echizen'
Naohiro Takasu (Japan)

Commended: 'Pelagic Thresher Shark'
Noam Kortler (Israel)

Portrait

Winner: 'Rockpool Rookies'
Matty Smith (Australia)

Matty Smith from Australia talks about his shot which won the Portrait category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Screaming Swallower'
Steven Kovacs (United States)

Third: 'White spirits'
Merche Llobera (Spain)

Highly Commended: 'Silent Hunter'
Lars von Ritter Zahony (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Forest Guardian'
James Emery (UK)

Highly Cmmended: 'Giant Stride'
Suliman Alatiqi (Kuwait)

Highly Commended: 'Super red'
Toni Bertran (Spain)

Commended: 'Capybara'
George Kao (Taiwan)

Coral Reefs

Winner: 'Underwater Meteor Shower'
Dr. Tom Shlesinger (Israel)

Dr. Tom Shlesinger from Israel talks about his shot which won the Coral Reefs Category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Sunset Patrol'
Renee Capozzola (United States)

Third: 'Veiled in Vibrance'
Neil Rosewarn (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Late afternoon lettuce'
Olivier Delorieux (France)

Highly Commended: 'Parrotfish Frenzy'
Kat Zhou (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Chromatic Reef'
Bryan H. Blauvelt (United States)

Highly Commended: 'Who's a pretty boy, then?'
Nicholas More (UK)

Commended: 'Shimmering Reef'
Catherine Holmes (UK)

Black & White

Winner: 'Coral Window'
Shunsuke Nakano (Japan)

Shunsuke Nakano from Japan talks about his shot which won the Black & White Category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Silver-Tone Seductress'
John Pfisterer (United States)

Third: 'Power and Pace'
David Alpert (UK)

Highly Commended: 'The Fever'
Kaushiik Subramaniam (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Face to Face in the Frozen Deep'
Lars von Ritter Zahony (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Storm Beneath the Surface'
Nur Tucker (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Drifting'
Billy Rolls (UK)

Commended: 'Echinopora lamellosa'
Ishino Shota (Japan)

Up & Coming

Winner: 'Lunging Leopard'
Sam Blount (United States)

Sam Blount from the US talks about his shot which won the Up & Coming category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Dancing with Light'
Khaichuin Sim (Malaysia)

Third: 'Shared Time'
Jinny Kim (Republic of Korea)

Highly Commended: 'Crowded House'
Natalie Yarrow (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Drawn to Light'
Leticia Carbajal (Spain)

Highly Commended: 'Hells Bells'
Gabriel König (Switzerland)

Highly Commended: 'Alone in a crowd'
Keith Kirkpatrick (United States)

Commended: 'Meeting of Minds'
Keith Kirkpatrick (United States)

Compact

Winner: 'Alpine lookout'
Andrea Michelutti (Italy)

Andrea Michelutti from Italy talks about his shot which won the Portrait category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Veins of the Earth'
Manuel Wüthrich (Switzerland)

Third: 'Natural barriers'
Rémi Conte (France)

Highly Commended: 'Nemo and Eggs'
Enrico Somogyi (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'Night drifters'
Daniel Halmi (Thailand)

Highly Commended: 'Cinderella's Coral Carriage'
Isidora Dekalo (Germany)

Highly Commended: 'The Guardian'
Vadim Belakhov (Australia)

Commended: 'Arctic Mariner'
Catherine Holmes (UK)

Smartphone

Winner: 'The Roar'
Jack Ho (China)

Jack Ho from China talks about his shot which won the Smartphone category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'The curious gaze of grey shark'
Clotxa (Spain)

Third: 'Intertidal world'
Martin Stevens (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Crown Gills'
Ben Sarinda (Indonesia)

Highly Commended: 'Baby Shark'
Martin Stevens (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Travel companions'
Edwar Herreño (Colombia)

Highly Commended: 'Gray Angelfish'
Adrian Smith ( United States)

Commended: 'Reef Safe Sunblock'
Billy Rolls (UK)

British Waters Wide Angle

Winner: 'A Meeting of Giants'
Evan Johnston (UK)

Evan Johnston from the UK talks about his shot which won the British Waters Wide Angle category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Dusk Encounter'
Kirsty Andrews (UK)

Third: 'Hold on tight!'
Billy Arthur (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Devon Blue'
David Alpert (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Watch Your Fingers!'
James Lynott (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Turbulence'
Henley Spiers (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Ladder To The Deep'
Guy Trees (UK)

Commended: 'Reaching out'
Dan Bolt (UK)

British Waters Macro

Winner: 'Mum'
Tom Ingram (UK)

Tom Ingrham from the UK talks about his shot which won the British Waters Macro category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Riding the Storm'
Sandra Stalker (UK)

Third: 'New Life'
Dan Bolt (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Anchored in the blue'
Simon Temple (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Anemone polyp'
Kirsty Andrews (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Rainbow slug'
Martin Stevens (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Catshark Pup'
Ryan Stalker (UK)

Commended: 'Who's a pretty boy'
Saeed Rashid (UK)

British Waters Living Together

Winner: 'Life Under the Pier'
Valerie Reid (Netherlands)

Valerie Reid from the Netherlands talks about her shot which won the British Waters Living Together category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Mr & Mrs'
Dan Bolt (UK)

Third: 'Crowded congers'
Kirsty Andrews (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Moored in Feathers'
Malcolm Nimmo (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Shelter on the Nevada'
Tash Yates (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Baygitano engine fish'
Kirsty Andrews (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Edible Crab on the E-49'
Tash Yates (UK)

Commmended: 'Up side down anchor'
Terry Griffiths (UK)

Save our Seas Foundation Marine Conservation

Winner: 'Where Innocence Meets Tradition'
Khaichuin Sim (Malaysia)

Khaichuin Sim from Malaysia talks about his shot which won the 'Save our Seas Foundation' Marine Conservation category in UPY2026.

Runner Up: 'Get Me Outta Here!'
Ross Makulec (United States)

Third: 'Rescued and rehabilitated at CESTHA'
Ilaria Mariaguilia Rizzuto (Italy)

Highly Commended: 'From late cretaceous till 21st Century'
Gaurav Pramod Patil (India)

Highly Commended: 'Poop chute'
Saeed Rashid (UK)

Highly Commended: 'Into the fiord'
Edwar Herreño (Colombia)

Highly Commended: 'Human Madness'
Ipah Uid Lynn (Malaysia)

Commended: 'Catch of the Day'
Sandra Stalker (UK)

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