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Every year, Oceanographic magazine holds a competition for best ocean photographer of the year, and the finalists for 2023 are pretty incredible. Judged by a panel of some of the world’s leading ocean image makers, the competition has nine categories that encompass a wide range of styles and subjects, including Ocean Conservation, Adventure, Wildlife and Fine Art photography. Last year, the award was won by French surf photographer Ben Thouard with a photo of a surfer getting held under in Tahiti.
All category winners, as well as the overall winner, will be announced in September. They will then be featured at an exhibition in Sydney, Australia. The details of the exhibition are to be announced along with the winners.
A selection of the photos are featured above, with a full list of finalists and more information on them available in the Winners Gallery on the Oceanographic magazine website. Of particular interest is the entry from Gergo Rugli. His piece, entitled Warrior, depicts a surfer dropping in to some dramatically stylized Sydney surf.
“This afternoon was one that I am never going to forget,” writes Rugli in his description of the piece, “A big swell reached Sydney’s coastline with some waves reaching over 10 feet in height. Very few surfers had the courage to fight with these monsters. It was just before sunset, and the sky was covered with clouds. I didn’t expect any colors, but just before the sun reached the horizon, a gap opened up, and the setting sun painted the whole sky with mysterious red light. I wanted to create a dreamy feeling and started to shoot with a slow shutter speed to capture the unique scene.”
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