Articles

A tiny secretary blenny peers out of a coral head, Bonaire
 

Jean-Baptiste Cazajous, hailing from France, has been a nature enthusiast since childhood. However, it wasn't until the age of 28, during a trip to Egypt, that he discovered his love and passion for scuba diving and the underwater world. Shortly thereafter, Jean-Baptiste joined a diving club in the south of France. During his first weekend in the Mediterranean, he noticed one of his fellow club members had a camera. As soon as he saw the photos, he decided he also wanted to be taking pictures underwater. The very next weekend, with a mere 15 dives under his belt, he purchased his first camera—an Olympus TG-5.

In 2022, determined to take photography more seriously, Jean-Baptiste invested in a Sony a7R III. Since then, he has dived regularly in the Mediterranean, striving to share the beauty of this often-overlooked sea right in his own backyard. Though the Mediterranean is frequently referred to as “the most polluted sea in the world,” Jean-Baptiste believes it still holds countless wonders worth photographing and protecting and some of his feature here is a testament to that.

While the Mediterranean holds a special place in his heart, Jean-Baptiste also tries to take one or two trips each year to tropical destinations like Egypt, Raja Ampat, Bali, and Bonaire. While he initially focused on macro photography—particularly nudibranchs—he has since expanded his interests to wide-angle photography, capturing wrecks, reefs, fish, and more. His passion and dedication for wrecks were recently recognized when one of his images won an award in the Wrecks category in the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025 competition. Likely one of many awards to come!
 

Beneath beautiful sun rays, a spotted eagle ray stirs up sand in the search for food, Bonaire
 

A diver explores the wreckage of a sunken WWII plane, France
 

A diver shares a World War I wreck with a huge shoal of baitfish, France
 

A snoot-lit shot of a hermit crab and a hitchhiking anemone, France
 

A clingfish hams it up for the camera, France
 

A beautiful nudibranch, sporting every color of the rainbow, France
 

A huge basket star, with fully unfurled arms, feeds on invisible plants and animals drifting in the current, France
 

A newly settled ornate ghost pipefish sheltering near some hydroids, Bali, Indonesia
 

A goby guards a clutch of eggs laid on a sea squirt, Bali, Indonesia
 

A Mediterranean grouper strikes a pose, France
 

A bustling reef scene from the Red Sea, Egypt
 

A stunningly outcrop, encrusted with sponges and corals, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
 

A beautiful black-phase manta cruises over the reef, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
 

A school of beautifully colored hangs in the current, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
 

To see more of Jean-Baptiste’s award-winning work, please give him a follow on Instagram.