With more than 5,000 submissions from photographers around the world, the winners of the British 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year Contest have just been announced. Chosen from 11 different categories, including Wide Angle, Macro, Wrecks, Behavior, Portrait, Black & White and British Waters, The top prize went to German photographer Tobias Friedrich’s CYCLE-WAR which reveals British World War II military vehicles, deep inside a shipwreck that was lost in the Red Sea, by Egypt. The title of British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018 was awarded to Scottish photographer Grant Thomas, whose photo Love Birds features a pair of swans in Loch Lomond, Scotland. Malaysian photographer Man BD was awarded a prize for Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018 for his shows a pair of sea slugs that are about to be eaten by a terrifying moray eel.
In collaboration with Underwater Photography Magazine the UPY team have produced a Yearbook, bringing together 2018’s winning images, their back-stories, and judges’ comments. So if you want to learn more about the competition and photos, you can download the pdf version book from the official site.
“ROAR” WINNER of category: “Up & Coming.” Photo: © ManBd UiDive/UPY 2018
“Love Birds” WINNER of category: “British Waters Wide Angle.” Photo: © Grant Thomas/UPY 2018
“Humpback whale spy hopping” WINNER of category: “Wide Angle.” Photo: © Greg Lecoeur/UPY 2018.
“Seahorse Density” WINNER of category: “Macro.” Photo: © Shane Gross/UPY 2018
“A sand tiger shark surrounded by tiny bait fish” WINNER of category: “Portrait.” Photo: © Tanya Houppermans/UPY 2018.
“Battle of the Tompots” WINNER of category: “British Waters Macro.” Photo: © Henley Spiers/UPY 2018.
“the fisherman” WINNER of category: “Behaviour.” Photo: © Filippo Borghi/UPY 2018.
“Crocodile reflections” WINNER of category: “Black & White.” Photo: © Borut Furlan/UPY 2018
“Flower power” Runner Up of category: “Compact”. Photo: © Jack Berthomier/UPY 2018
“Friend or Food?!” RUNNER UP from category: Macro. Photo: © Songda Cai/UPY 2018.
“CYCLE-WAR” WINNER of category: “Wrecks.” Photo: © Tobias Friedrich/UPY 2018
