The Underwater Photographer of the Year | Gallery

Last mont the winners of Underwater Photographer of the Year award have been announced: Gabriel Barathieu's Dancing Octopus is the winning image for 2017 edition. The picture was taken in a lagoon in Mayotte, a little island in Indian Ocean: “I had to wait for a low spring tide when the water was just 30cm deep - Barathieu stated speaking about taking it - so that the octopus would fill the water column. I got as close as possible with a wide angle lens to create this image, which makes the octopus look huge.”

Every year, a jury composed by Peter Rowlands, Alexander Mustard e Martin Edge, evaluates sereral underwater pictures coming from all over the world, awarding the Underwater Photographer of the Year as well as the winning images for different cathegories: Wide Angle, Macro, Wrecks, Behaviour, Portrait, Compact, Up & Coming, British Waters Wide Angle, British Waters Macro, British Waters Compact.

"From my own point of view, I have been captivated not only by the winning images but also by the stories behind how those images were achieved - declared Peter Rowlands, Chair of the jury for 2017 - The conception, the planning and the physical effort to achieve a successful result; it is those efforts that we, as judges, pay our respects to by taking out two days to meet up, sit together and look in detail at all the images. It is a mammoth task but one that we all agree is a privilege to be part of."

This year the judges had to choose among more than 450 thousand images taken by photographers from 67 different countries. For the first time this year, has been awarded also the best Underwater Photography Book: Blackwater Open Blue by Scott Tuason, that collects many fascinating images of the marine world.

We've selected for you some food inspired images among the winning and finalist ones, you can see in the gallery at the top of the page. Still curious to find out all the winners? Watch here the ceremony award when Alex Mustard announces the awarded photographers:

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The Underwater Photographer of the Year | Gallery