PADI and Scuba Diving Magazine’s annual photo contest captures incredible diversity of our Blue Planet

Published 4 years agoon September 22, 2022

Together, PADI® and Scuba Diving® magazine have announced the winners of their 18th annual Through Your Lens photo contest, which drew in nearly 2,600 entries from around the world.

“The submissions for our 2022 Through Your Lens photo contest have exceeded our expectations,” says Andy Leisner, Chief Consumer Officer of PADI Worldwide, the publisher of Scuba Diving magazine. “The imagery in this annual collection of underwater photography is outstanding, unique, and captures what a very small portion of the global population has had the opportunity to experience: the other stunning 70% of our watery planet.”

Grand Prize Winner: Credit – Boz Johnson

This year’s grand prize winner is Boz Johnson, whose striking night-time image of a flying fish gliding just below the surface highlights the magic of the underwater world and the beauty worth protecting. Through Your Lens is the first photo Johnson ever entered, and he took home $1,000 from Scuba Diving magazine and a liveaboard trip aboard the BVI Aggressor from Aggressor Adventures.

Behavior First Place Winner: Credit – Salvatore Ianniello

The prize-winning images in the four contest categories – macro, wide-angle, behavior, and compact camera – include: ice-diving a whale carcass, a perch eating another perch, a moray eel opening its mouth for a teeth cleaning from a bluestreak wrasse, a diver exploring the shallows of a Mexican cenote on a sunny day, a whale shark at night, an octopus mother tending her eggs, and a black and white shrimp.

Compact Camera First Place Winner: Credit — Miguel Ramirez

The first-place winner for each of the specified categories also received the week-long Aggressor Adventures liveaboard trip, the second-place winners a SCUBAPRO regulator, and the third-place winners a SeaLife light or underwater smartphone housing accessory. Select winners will also be given the opportunity to have their photos featured on PADI certification cards.

Wide-Angle First Place Winner: Credit — Alex Dawson

“We are on a mission to encourage more people to experience, explore and protect our shared blue planet, with the 2022 Through Your Lens images playing a powerful role in sparking positive ocean change,” continues Leisner.

To check out this year’s collection of winning photos, visit scubadiving.com/worlds-best-underwater-photos. To inquire about reproducing winning images, please contact edit@padi.com.

Header Image: Macro First Place Winner: Credit – Yury Ivanov