Experience the first-ever Ocean Photographer of the Year: Storytelling Sessions.

We invite you to venture behind the photos and into art, advocacy and science all about our blue planet. Through a series of immersive discussions, you will join an extraordinary gathering of world-class photographers, scientists, and explorers to explore how storytelling can translate the ocean’s complex beauty into a universal call for action.

_________________________________________________________

Keynote Session: with Laurent Ballesta

Join world-renowned marine scientist, explorer, and photographer Laurent Ballesta for an exclusive keynote event. Go behind the scenes of his ground-breaking Gombessa expeditions and discover the pioneering ocean achievements that redefined deep-sea exploration.

Telling the Climate Crisis: Urgency, Barriers, and the Global Stage

Environmental and broadcast journalism faces an immense challenge: how to communicate the climate crisis on the world stage? Convening leading voices from the field, including Channel 4 climate journalist, Maeve Campbell, wildlife TV presenter Meg McCubbin, and veteran journalist and environment editor, Rachael Jolley (The Conversation), this session will explore how to construct urgent, evidence-based narratives that break through the global media saturation.

Female leadership in exploration: Women shaping ocean storytelling

This panel will bring together an extraordinary cohort of female leaders and visual storytellers to celebrate the personal journeys, triumphs, and notes from the field of this year’s Female Fifty Fathoms winner. Featuring celebrated photographers Iris Uijttewaal alongside Tamara Stubbs, who documented the historic Five Deeps Expedition to the deepest point of every ocean, as well as this year’s FFF winner, this session will dive deep into the realities of ocean exploration and the pivotal moments behind our speakers’ most breathtaking images.

Focusing the frame: Photography on the Front Lines of Ocean Conservation

Bringing together three distinct visual storytellers, this session will explore how ocean photography can be used as a powerful catalyst for marine health, cultural awareness, and environmental policy. Featuring marine conservation photographer, Maryline Renault, ocean adventure photographer, Erik Witkopf, and National Geographic Explorer and biologist Lana Tannir, this session will dive beneath the surface of beautiful photography to examine the responsibility behind the lens.

The Camera and the Curiosities: Igniting Wonder through Scientific Photography

Underwater photography can transform dense scientific data into moments of wonder, using the camera lens as an invitation into new marine discoveries. Featuring marine ecology engineer, tech diver, and underwater photographer Thomas Pavey, filmmaker and photographer Dan Mele, and world-renowned underwater explorer, Laurent Ballesta, this session will examine how breathtaking visual storytelling bridges the gap between complex ocean science and public fascination.

Oceanographic's Storyteller in Residence: Tales from the Ocean Frontlines

This session will bring together three distinct voices to offer an intimate, behind-the-lens look into the lives, craft, and expeditions of Oceanographic’s own Storytellers in Residence. Featuring the award-winning underwater photographer, Henley Spiers, marine biologist and expedition leader, Mads St. Clair, and ocean artist and conservationist, Francesca Page, this panel will explore diversity in creative mediums and their convergence to protect our ocean.