Best Of UAE’s Photography Talent Awarded At The EDA’s 16th Annual Digital Online Underwater Photography & Film Competition

Celebrating its 16^th year, the annual Digital Online Underwater Photography & Film Competition recognised the best of the UAE’s underwater photography talent across multiple image and video categories at an awards ceremony at Deep Dive Dubai last week.

Open to EDA members, the competition was launched by the Emirates Diving Association (EDA)in 2009 with a mission to capture the beauty of the underwater world and reveal it to non-divers and those unfamiliar with the marine environment. Through the event, EDA seeks to develop a deeper relationship between the general public and the world’s oceans to encourage conservation practices for this vital ecosystem.

Prizes were awarded to the winners by Juma Khalifa bin Thalith, EDA’s Chairman and celebrated author, Ali Khalifa bin Thalith, renowned photographer and filmmaker and Secretary General of the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award, Mohamed Faraj Abdulla Jaber, EDA’s Health, Safety and Technical Inspector, and Mohamad Abdulla AlMusallami, Digital Online’s resident Judge!

Commenting on the 2025 awards ceremony, Ibrahim Al Zu’ubi, Co-Founder of the Emirates Diving Association said: “A huge congratulations to all the winners tonight. All of the imagery and videography work submitted this year by these talented individuals was fantastic, and I’m grateful to the judges who had the extremely difficult task of assessing the best in each category. It’s truly heartwarming to see so many ocean enthusiasts supporting our mission to reveal the underwater world we care about so deeply to audiences across the United Arab Emirates and the world. I’m also deeply grateful to our sponsors for the event, who providedall the excellent prizesto reward the winners for their exceptional work.The competition could not succeed without you.”

During the awards ceremony hosted at Deep Dive Dubai, the world’s deepest diving pool, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes were presented to winners across seven categories, with over 13 different nationalities represented in the list of winners, including four Emirati nationals.

Deciding on the winners was a panel of judges comprising world-renowned photographers, authors and researchers from across the globe, including the UAE’s very own Mohamed Abdulla Almusallami, an award-winning underwater photographer and marine biologist, affiliate at Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Scientists, Head of Fisheries Management at the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, and a Board Member at the Emirates Zoos and Aquariums Association.

Categories in the competition included Macro, Wide Angle, Best of the UAE, Black & White, Behaviour, Creative Underwater Photography, and the Video category, for which this year’s theme was ‘Treasured Underwater Discoveries.

To find out more about the Digital Online Underwater Photography & Film Competition and the Emirates Diving Association, log onto www.emiratesdiving.com.