Articles

Northern spectacled salamanders move among egg-covered rocks in a small pond, Italy
 

The vast majority of DPG’s Photographers of the Week tend to focus on ocean imagery. Emanuele Biggi, a naturalist from Genoa, Italy, takes a different approach, using his photography to spotlight lesser-known animals—particularly those found in freshwater environments.

Emanuele holds a Ph.D. in Marine Environmental Sciences and is an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. Since 2013, he even has co-hosted the television program GEO. His work centers on documenting and conserving overlooked species, both above and below the water’s surface, particularly reptiles and amphibians, many of which you’ll see in his feature here. Emanuele communicates these stories through articles, conferences, and scientific exhibitions at major Italian science museums, including Predatori del Microcosmo, Kryptòs, and Amphibia.

Emanuele has collaborated with numerous national and international magazines, and his photography has earned recognition in prestigious international competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year and GDT European Photographer of the Year. He was a speaker at the international nature photography symposium WildPhotos in London in 2013 and participated in the Wildscreen Festival in Bristol, UK in 2016 and 2018, where he also served as a session presenter. He is the author of several books and essays, including Predatori del Microcosmo, Namibia, and Micromondi.
 

A pair of tadpoles feeds on microscopic bits of algae in a vernal pool, Italy
 

A common toad orgy in a shallow stream. All the black strands are already-laid eggs, Italy
 

A mosquito hangs out with a pair of fairy shrimp in a vernal pool, Italy
 

A pair of Italian stream frogs mate in shallow water, Italy
 

An aptly-named fishing spider hopes that minnow will come just a tiny bit closer, Italy
 

Voracious as adults, voracious as larvae, this larval dragonfly has captured a tadpole, Italy
 

An archerfish hovers motionless, waiting for an unsuspecting insect to wander too close above the water, Indonesia
 

A stunning anemone field beneath an old jetty, Indonesia
 

A lonesome Italian stream frog patiently awaits a mate, Italy
 

A European pond terrapin, sheltered beneath a clump of aquatic grass in a tadpole-filled pond, Italy
 

This freshwater sculpin appears to have had a run in with bad plastic surgery! Italy
 

A large common octopus moves through a shallow seagrass bed, Italy
 

A watersnake tastes the water as it approaches the surface to breathe, Italy
 

Large freshwater crabs mate in the shadows, out of sight of a peeping-Tom toad, Italy
 

To see more of Emanuele’s award-winning work, please give him a follow on Instagram, and visit his website, www.anura.it.