Ocean Photographer of the Year accessibility - Young Photographer

Young Photographer of the Year

Open to all photographers aged 25 or under. The award recognises photographers who display both youthful curiosity and an understanding of their subject matter.

Winner Jacob Guy

Jacob Guy is a 24-year-old British ocean filmmaker and photographer passionate about ocean conservation. He grew up on the south coast of the UK, diving since he was 15 years old and photographing since he was 18.

Location North Sulawesi, Indonesia 
Equipment Olympus EPL-10, AOI Octo housing. Backscatter MF-2 strobe, Fluorescent UV Filter with a yellow filter, 60mm Olympus macro lens 
Settings 1/80, f/2.8, ISO 400 
Image size 143.5 x 143.5cms

Wall text 
The elusive algae octopus. “Coming out to hunt at dusk, these creatures blend seamlessly into the reef - until they are viewed under a different light,” says Guy. “These octopuses are one of the only cephalopods that fluoresce under ultraviolet light. On a night dive, I found one of these creatures on the hunt and I managed to capture the intense look from its yellow eyes.”

About The Image 
Captured right after sunset at about 7pm on a warm and humid day with heavy rainfall. Taken while scuba diving off a boat.

The algae octopus is so named as it can change the colour and shape of its body and arms to resemble cylindrical seashells overgrown with algae. They have a 7cm mantle (or body) in mottled ochre, grey, and brown with legs of approximately 25cm. Its one of the smallest octopus.

This is an intimate, glowing portrait. We are very close to the subject and the little cephalopod is standing tall, rising from a pebbly bed of mottled black and deep red. On our left Behind it, it is inky black. , Faint splodges of deep red mixing into the black at right. The octopus fluoresces, at once grotesque and lamp-like, rendered adorable by its scale, texture and peculiar eyes.

The algae octopus’ textured orange, green, black and yellow body is weirdly woolly and rumpled in the preternatural light. Just like algae, on its head and body, thread-like growths stick out here and there.

Its eyes are wide-set and side-mounted on its speckled-orange, heart shaped head. Two, bulbous, rounded protrusions, with a dip in the middle. Each eye glows yellow, striped by a horizontal black pupil. Its neck narrows, widening out into an inverted funnel shape body.

The octopuses sides glow yellow, its gathered skin is greenish-yellow down its front, and its legs brighten in places to a warm, speckled gold, yellow in the centres.

Its tentacles curl around its body, rolling in thick strands onto the pebbles. In the blurred foreground one tentacle is curling and reaching beyond the bottom edge of the image.

In the bottom left the tip of a tentacle pokes out from behind a little reddish-black mound. A unexpected dab of green and yellow brightness rising like smoke.

Young Photographer of the Year is open to all photographers aged 25 or under. The award recognises photographers who display both youthful curiosity and an understanding of their subject matter.

This is the category winner by Jacob Guy. Please feel free to touch and explore.

The little octopus is standing tall, rising from a pebbly sea bed. It fluoresces, at once grotesque and lamp-like, rendered adorable by its scale, texture and peculiar eyes.

If you would like to listen to the full description, a tactile tile is located beneath a QR code on the other side of this narrow wall.