Dive into the stunning winning photos of 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year

The Underwater Photographer of the Year contest has announced the winners of the 2019 competition. Just like last year, it’s a stunning selection of images, chosen from over 5000 entries from 65 countries all over the world. We bring you the winning images in all categories, so let’s dive in!

The overall winner of the 2019 contest is British photographer Richard Barnden. His image titled The Gauntlet shows the exact moment a pack of grey reef sharks catch and devour a parrotfish. The photo was taken underwater, late at night on the reefs of French Polynesia in the center of the Pacific Ocean. Barnden explains the story behind his image:

“As I descended, hundreds of sharks covered the bottom. This unlucky parrotfish flinched, and that tiny movement alerted the swarm of sharks. The mayhem hurtled straight towards me and I instinctively pressed the shutter, moments later all that remained was a rain of parrotfish scales in the darkness, and this photo on my camera.”

Underwater Photographer of the Year is an annual competition based in the UK. The first underwater Photographer of the Year was named in 1965, and it was British photographer Phil Smith. Today, the competition has thirteen categories and receives thousands of entries from all over the globe. These are the categories:

1. Wide Angle
2. Macro
3. Wrecks
4. Behavior
5. Portrait
6. Black & White
7. Compact
8. Up & Coming
9. British Waters Wide Angle
10. British Waters Macro
11. British Waters Living Together
12. British Waters Compact
13. Marine Conservation

Spanish photographer, Eduardo Acevedo from Tenerife, was named Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2019 for his photo showing a loggerhead turtle entangled in a discarded plastic fishing net.

The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition also aims to promote new photographic talent with the Up & Coming category. Korean photographer Taeyup Kim was named Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019. His winning photo, Paradise, shows healthy corals growing in front of a resort in French Polynesia.

The title of Most Promising British Underwater Photographer, 2019 goes to Malcolm Nimmo from Plymouth in England. His image Marine Compass was taken while snorkeling in the Scilly Islands, UK.

Here are the remaining category winners of the 2019 Underwater Photographer of the Year:

If you’d like to check out all the winning images of the 2019 contest, check out the Underwater Photographer of the Year’s website. The photos, along with the back-stories and judges’ comments, are also available in The Underwater Photographer of the Year Yearbook, which you can download via this link.