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WINNERS GALLERY

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3rd place Exploration Photographer of the Year

Matty Smith Australia

34°35'50.3"S 150°53'58.4"E

Squid portrait. “I had spent several winters exploring various inland waters and bays at night looking for squid to photograph,” says photographer Matty Smith. “I find their behaviour and colourings mesmerising. I wanted to produce images that really captured their personality. I found by lying on my back on the sand on the seabed and shooting from below almost anthropomorphises their faces and reveals a character rarely seen.”

BEHIND THE LENS

2021 EPoY third place, Matty Smith

Matty Smith United Kingdom (UK)

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ABOUT THE IMAGE

  • Glassy calm water
  • Taken while scuba diving
  • Pre-dawn shoot
  • Walk-in shore dive

Matty Smith is an internationally-acclaimed award-winning photographer. He is based in Australia, having emigrated from the UK in 2007. "I have the worlds biggest playground at my feet, the Pacific Ocean," he says. "And I have truly fallen in love with it."

MORE IMAGES BY Matty Smith

Ocean Portfolio Award

2022 Australia

Ocean Portfolio Award 2022, Matty Smith

Collective Portfolio Award

2021 Australia

Ocean Portfolio Award, runner-up, Matty Smith

ExplorationPhotographer of the Year

2021 Australia

2021 EPoY finalist, Matty Smith

The OceanPhotographer of the Year

2021 Papua New Guinea

2021 OPoY third place, Matty Smith

Reconnect. Immerse yourself. Be inspired.

Enjoy the vibrancy, beauty and impact of each year's finalist photography, celebrated in our Ocean Photographer of the Year coffee table book collection.

OPY_edition2021_book
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