Underwater Photographers Triumph within the Hasselblad Masters 2026 Photo Competition

Winner, Project//21 class, “Dwellers of the Night” by Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya

 

Two underwater shooters are among the many seven winners of this 12 months’s Hasselblad Masters photo competition. The winners have been chosen from 10 finalists in every of the seven classes—Art, Architecture, Portrait, Landscape, Street, Project//21, and Wildlife. These latter two classes—Project//21 and Wildlife—have been received by Thai photographer Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya and South African photographer Alfred Minnaar, respectively. Project//21 is barely open to photographers who have been 21 years outdated or youthful on the finish of the competitors’s submission interval—and Ayudhya was solely 14!

 

Winner, Project//21 class, “Dwellers of the Night” by Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya

 

Winner, Project//21 class, “Dwellers of the Night” by Panitbhand Paribatra Na Ayudhya

 

Ayudhya’s successful sequence of three blackwater photos within the Project//21 class, referred to as “Dwellers of the Night,” was shot in Anilao, Philippines, one of many world’s hottest spots for photographing pelagic and larval marine animals as they migrate from the depths to feed beneath the duvet of darkness. The sequence consists of highly effective portraits of a ribbon eel, a larval wonderpus, and a hatchetfish.

Meanwhile, Minnaar’s successful threesome, named “The Forest I Roam,” all function the identical tiny topic: a goby residing amongst various kinds of coral. By inserting the goby inside its atmosphere, the reef itself turns into the topic, inviting viewers to think about its vastness from the attitude of considered one of its smallest inhabitants.

Congratulations to Panitbhand and Alfred—and all of the class winners. Check them out on the Hasselbald website.

 

Winner, Wildlife class, “The Forest I Roam” by Alfred Minnaar

 

Winner, Wildlife class, “The Forest I Roam” by Alfred Minnaar

 

Winner, Wildlife class, “The Forest I Roam” by Alfred Minnaar