UNDERBATHWATER WORLD
Photo contest captures lockdown mood – and divers’ levels of invention
IT WAS DIVE-EQUIPMENT company Fourth Element that came up with the clever idea of the Underbathwater Photography Competition during the first coronavirus lockdown – but the follow-up in 2021 really unlocked divers’ pent-up creativity.
Hundreds of entries were said to have been submitted, shot in bathrooms around the world.
The categories were Covidthemed: Self (isolation) Portrait, Lockdown Lego, Zoom In (Macro – close-up), Indoor Animal Behaviour and Positive/Negative (black & white).
“What began as a crazy idea has quickly grown to become something that has encouraged some remarkable creativity and certainly created unique images shot during a very challenging period,” said Fourth Element co-founder Jim Standing, whose brainchild it was.
“The standard was considerably higher than the previous year.
Participants went to extraordinary lengths to capture their perfect images and, in many cases, the behind-the-scenes images and the back-story were as impressive as the photos themselves.”
The photos were judged by underwater photographers Alex Mustard, Saeed Rashid and Standing. They were said to have had a challenge to pick even a shortlist from the array of imagery.