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DPG is pleased to announce the opening of the 11th annual Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day, surrounding the 2024 theme “Awaken New Depths.” Complementing the UN’s day-long World Oceans Day celebration at the UN Headquarters in New York, this year’s competition draws on the power of the arts to expand our perspectives and appreciation for our blue planet, build new foundations for our relationship to the ocean, and ignite a wave of action towards necessary change.

The 2024 Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day is a free and open-to-the-public competition coordinated in collaboration between the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, DPG, Oceanic Global, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and Nausicaá. The 11th annual competition presents a unique opportunity for photographers to showcase the immense breadth and depth of the ocean’s beauty as well as to shed light on the lesser-known promise and potential brimming beneath its waves. The following five categories are now open for submissions:

1. Awaken New Depths
2. Small Island Developing States
3. Big and Small Underwater Faces
4. Underwater Seascapes
5. Above Water Seascapes

Winners will be announced during the hybrid UN World Oceans Day event – this year celebrated on June 7th in New York – hosted by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, in partnership with Oceanic Global, and published on www.UNWorldOceansDay.org and DPG shortly afterwards.

Since its inception, the annual competition has been curated by underwater photographer Ellen Cuylaerts and judged by a jury of renowned photographers. This year is no exception, with the 2024 jury comprising underwater photographer Tom St George (UK), cave instructor and explorer Julia Gugelmeier (Germany), photographer and dive center operator Mohamed Rifshan Shaheem (Maldives), and underwater photographer Mayumi Takeuchi-Ebbins (Japan). For further details about submissions, including contest rules, judges, and more, click below.

• ENTER CONTEST

All entries must be submitted by April 7th, 2024 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).
 

About United Nations World Oceans Day

Since its inception in 2008, United Nations World Oceans Day (UN WOD) has celebrated the ocean and its importance to the planet and our lives, while raising awareness about the many threats it faces. As the challenges to the ocean continue to grow, so does the need to understand and mobilize globally. In celebration of the 2024 theme, “Awaken New Depths,” the United Nations is joining forces with decision makers, scientists, private sector executives, civil society representatives, indigenous communities, celebrities and youth activists and more, to put the ocean first. The annual UN World Oceans Day celebration is hosted by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, and has been made possible by the generous contribution of Oceanic Global since 2019. For more information visit www.UNWorldOceansDay.org.