MATTY SMITH / AUSTRALIA

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Matty Smith is a UK born and bred underwater photographer who is now based in Newcastle NSW Australia. After emigrating down under in 2007 in pursuit of furthering his photography career, Matty fell in love with the Pacific Ocean and has now made it his permanent playground.

“Underwater photography allows me to visually communicate to the viewer the majestic feelings of being in the ocean and the incredible interactions between myself and rarely seen creatures in their natural habitat. I want to generate compassion in people for how wonderful our seas are and how important it is to treat them with respect.”

Matty’s work has been used and published by The BBC’s Blue Planet 2 Documentary, National Geographic, Ocean Geographic, BBC Wildlife Magazine, GEO, The Washington Post, The Australian and The Guardian amongst many others, as well as featured in TV appearances and The Discovery Channel, Channel 9 (Australia) and Channel 7 (Australia). He has also won over 30 international photography awards of runner up or above including the London Natural History Museum’s “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” Underwater prize 2024.