2020 Underwater Photographer of the Year winners will take you to the incredible worlds below the water surface

The Underwater Photographer of the Year contest never fails to bring us some breathtaking images from below the water surface. The 2020 winners have just been announced, and as always, they’re absolutely gorgeous. We bring you more details and this year’s category winners below, so – let’s dive in!

This contest has been around for the impressive 55 years. The first Underwater Photographer of the Year was named way back in 1965, and it was British photographer Phil Smith. This year, the competition received over 5,500 entries from 70 countries, across thirteen categories:

Wide Angle
Macro
Wrecks
Behaviour
Portrait
Black & White
Compact
Up & Coming
British Waters Wide Angle
British Waters Macro
British Waters Compact
British Waters Living Together
Marine Conservation

French photographer Greg Lecoeur was named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020 for his photo “Frozen Mobile Home.” He’s also the category winner of the Wide Angle category. In order to shoot his photo, Lecouer traveled to Antarctica on a small yacht, enabling him to document the wildlife on icebergs as they drift at the whim of polar currents. The photographer explains:

“Little is known about how wildlife thrives around these mobile homes. Icebergs fertilize the oceans by carrying nutrients from land that spark blooms of marine life and also provide homes for larger animals, like these crabeater seals.”

Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2020 is Pasquale Vassallo from Italy for his moving image “Last Dawn, Last Gasp.” Anita Kainrath from Austria was named as Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020. As for British photographers, Nick More from Devon was named British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020, whereas the title of Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2020 goes to Nur Tucker from Wimbledon, London.

Take a look at the rest of the category winners below. You can check out the full winners’ gallery on UPY’s website. There’s also a wonderful Yearbook which brings together the 125 winning images from the 2020 competition, and it’s available for download.