Australian photographer Ross Gudgeon has claimed the overall title at Close-up Photographer of the Year, winning the international competition’s top honour for Fractal Forest, an underwater image captured in Indonesia’s Lembeh Strait.
Gudgeon’s photograph, taken inside a cauliflower soft coral using a specialised underwater probe lens, earned him the grand prize and a £2,500 (AU$3,400) award, beating more than 12,000 entries from photographers in 63 countries.
The image reveals the intricate internal structure of the coral, a perspective rarely seen in marine photography.
“Named for its cauliflower-like form, this soft coral is made up of countless small, rounded polyps that give it a puffy texture,” Gudgeon said. “I wanted to explore a perspective that isn’t possible with conventional lenses, and an underwater probe lens allowed me to do that.”
Lembeh strait is a diving and biodiversity hotspot separating the small island of Lembeh and the province of North Sulawesi.
It's also a favorite location among underwater macro photographers looking for weird and wonderful creatures.
Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) describes itself as one of the world’s leading competitions dedicated to macro, micro and close-up photography. The seventh edition featured 11 categories, with winning images spanning wildlife, landscapes and abstract studio work from around the globe.
Judging was conducted by a panel of 22 photographers, naturalists and editors, who spent more than 20 hours reviewing entries to select category winners and a Top 100 shortlist.
“This was the toughest competition yet,” said CUPOTY co-founder Tracy Calder.
Of Gudgeon’s winning image, she said it “embodies everything close-up photography can achieve — it shows us a perspective we’ve never seen before and reveals hidden beauty in a familiar subject. The judges were captivated."
The full list of winners and shortlisted images can be viewed on the CUPOTY website, with all the category winners shared here.
