Incredible Underwater Images Win International Recognition

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This year’s winners of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2021 competition have been announced and, as to be expected, the winning images offer an insight into an incredible alien world that lays beneath the water.

The winning and shortlisted photographs range from fine art style compositions to environmental photojournalistic images, making this year’s results a feast for the eyes.

Renee Capozzola: Overall Winner and Wide-angle Winner of UPY 2021

This image was taken by Renee Capozzola in French Polynesia. Capozzola describes the area as being one of her favourite places to photograph sharks.

“Here there are strong legal protections in place for sharks, allowing them to thrive and help balance the marine ecosystem,” said Capozzola. “During this visit to Moorea, French Polynesia, I spent several evenings in the shallows at sunset, hoping to capture something unique.

“Instead of focusing on split-level images as I often like to do, I decided to try something different. I envisioned and aimed to capture the sharks underwater with the sunset seen through Snell’s window. It took many attempts, but on this one particular evening the water was calm, the sunset was vibrant, and I got extremely lucky with the composition as well. Since many shark species are threatened with extinction throughout the world, it is my hope that images of these beautiful animals will help promote their conservation.”

The photograph was chosen by the judges as the Overall Winner, and was showered with amazing comments from the judges. Underwater photography expert Alex Mustard described the image as “a sunset ballet of reef sharks and sea birds in a tranquil corner of the Pacific Ocean.”

Here are some of the other winning and shortlisted images from this year’s competition categories.