Wildlife & Nature Shortlist

This series is the result of eight dives in the Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The photographs were taken at night using a technique that involves lowering a 10 metre line with eight alternating lights hanging from it into the ‘black water’. The lights are lowered 30 to 40 minutes prior to the dive and attract the larval or juvenile forms of different species. Just before the dive, the lights are hoisted back up and secured to a buoy, drawing the tiny, interesting creatures up with them. For the most part these larval forms are transparent, and range in size from just a few millimetres up to jellyfish measuring 4 cm. These photographs show how the tiny larval beings use tunicate jellyfish as protection from larger animals.

My name is Massimo, I was born in Latina in 1961 I started photography at the age of 11, I am a child of art. In 1981 I started working as a professional photographer, in 1994 I became a diving instructor and started underwater photography, an activity that I carry out traveling among the most beautiful seabeds in the world, bringing home unique images In November, I won the HIPA Grand Prize 2023