Winners of the Inaugural World Underwater Macro Awards

Gold, Macro (Compact Class), “Eggs at Eleven” by Andrea Michelutti

 

The organizer of the World Underwater Macro Awards (WUMA) has unveiled the winners of the primary version of the picture competitors devoted to underwater macro images. A seven-member jury selected Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in eight classes, with every class having an “Open” class and 6 of the classes having a further “Compact” class for a complete of 42 winners. The jury comprised well-known underwater photographers Pietro Formis, Ipah Uid Lynn, and Tim Ho, in addition to dive guides Kati Eschweiler, Ajiex Dharma, Ben Sarinda, and Christophe Kazmierski—acknowledging the collaborative nature of macro images.

“Behind every great macro photo, there is often a local guide who found the creature and helped the photographer capture the award-winning image,” says WUMA founder Olivier Martinez, aka Martinoo. Recognizing this invaluable contribution, WUMA affords free entry for native dive guides and spotters—usually additionally achieved underwater photographers in their very own proper—and Martinoo notes 34 of them took half, with eight finalists and 4 on the rostrum.

Gold awards have been picked up by Steven Kovacs (Macro Open), Andrea Michelutti (Macro Compact, Super Macro Compact, Nudibranchs Compact, Animal Behavior Compact), Boz Johnson (Super Macro Open), Giancarlo Mazarese (Nudibranchs Open, Crustaceans Open), Pietro Cremone (Crustaceans Compact), Ludovic Galko-Rundgren (Animal Behavior Open), Jiwon Choi (Creative Lighting Open), Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge (Creative Lighting Compact), Salvatore Gambacurta (Rare Critters Open), and Min-seok Jeon (Blackwater & Bonfire). Andrea Michelutti—aka Traveler Mike—deserves particular congratulations for bagging 4 Golds in addition to six different awards!

Enjoy the Golds under and take a look at the remainder of the winners on the WUMA website.

 

Gold, Macro (Open Class), “Guard Duty” by Steven Kovacs

 

Gold, Animal Behavior (Open Class), “Last Gasp” by Ludovic Galko-Rundgen

 

Gold, Animal Behavior (Compact Class), “Predator” by Andrea Michelutti

 

Gold, Nudibranchs (Open Class), “The Moment of Laying” by Giancarlo Mazarese

 

Gold, Nudibranchs (Compact Class), “The Crown and the Jewels” by Andrea Michelutti

 

Gold, Crustaceans (Open Class), “Symbiosis and Progeny” by Giancarlo Mazarese

 

Gold, Crustaceans (Compact Class), “Heart of Grass” by Pietro Cremone

 

Gold, Super Macro (Open Class), “Parenting Is Hard” by Boz Johnson

 

Gold, Super Macro (Compact Class), “Samurai” by Andrea Michelutti

 

Gold, Creative Lighting (Open Class), “Flame Passenger” by Jiwon Choi

 

Gold, Creative Lighting (Compact Class), “On a Colorful Planet” by Kathrin Landgraf-Kluge

 

Gold, Blackwater & Bonfire (Open Class), “Anatomy of Distortion” by Min-seok Jeon

 

Gold, Rare Critters (Open Class), “Ghost of Sydney” by Salvatore Gambacurta