This March, the Ocean Photography Awards will launch as the first awards to focus exclusively on celebrating the best amateur and professional ocean photography.
The Awards – brought to you by Oceanographic Magazine, in partnership with SeaLegacy and with the support of Princess Yachts – will showcase images by photographers from around the world who strive to accurately and beautifully capture the majesty and plight of the ocean. The Awards will reflect themes of conservation, exploration and adventure.
Six categories, which will be disclosed in March, will be judged by a panel of seven judges from SeaLegacy’s Collective – a collection of some of the world’s leading ocean photographers. The panel will include International Photography Hall of Fame inductee Paul Nicklen, founder of the International League of Conservation Photographers, Cristina Mittermeier, and Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Shawn Heinrichs.
The Awards are a celebration of the photographers who capture our planet’s wild blue spaces in earnest, sharing the beautiful, the dangerous and the damaged with those who might otherwise never have an opportunity to see such places. By sharing their relationship with nature, ocean photographers provide space for their audiences to connect with the marine environment.
Oceanographic Magazine Editor Will Harrison said: “We’re thrilled to be launching the Ocean Photography Awards this year in partnership with SeaLegacy and with the support of Princess Yachts.
“Oceanographic’s mission to connect people with the ocean has been based upon two key elements: captivating storytelling and beautiful photography. These awards represent an extension of that mission. We hope to showcase the very best ocean imagery being captured around the world today, and to do so in an inclusive way. These awards are for all ocean-goers: conservationists and adventurers, divers and sailors, amateurs and professionals. They are for those who shoot above the waterline and those who shoot below it, those who focus on marine life and those who focus on our own connectedness with the marine world. These awards are personal, a celebration of what the ocean means to each individual photographer.
“We look forward to revealing more in March, including the array of truly unique prizes on offer.”
Kiran Haslam of Princess Yachts, added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Oceanographic Magazine and SeaLegacy for the Ocean Photography Awards 2020. Never before has there been an awards event dedicated to beautiful and impactful imagery of our oceans, and we are proud to be playing our part in supporting this truly global, and unified, celebration. With a mutual ethos and ambition to preserve our oceans for future generations, we look forward to helping shine a light on the work of those behind the lens who are dedicated to capturing the very best of ocean life.”
The Awards ceremony will be held in London, UK, in August and will be attended by champions in the world of ocean photography community, as well as including a keynote address on the ‘State of the Ocean’. Entry details, full judging panel and prize information for the Ocean Photography Awards 2020 will be officially released in March.
For more information, visit oceanographicmagazine.com/opa.
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