Articles

A beautiful Cortez barnacle blenny showing off its mouth, La Paz, Baja, Mexico
 

Take a look at just about any photo competition allowing the submission of underwater images and chances are you’ve come across the name of our newest DPG Photographer of the Week, Suliman Alatiqi. Suliman thinks of underwater photography as half problem solving (between the logistics and the technical) and half artistic vision (between compositional techniques and imagination). The better you are at problem solving, the better you can serve the artistic vision. He does not limit himself to any niche within underwater photography. From the tiniest critters to the ocean’s leviathans, he enjoys learning about and photographing all forms of marine life. His motto is: “If it’s in the water, sooner or later I will photograph it!”

Suliman started taking photos underwater at the age of 15, having been introduced to it through PADI’s Underwater Photography course. Today, he regularly consults on, and contributes to, underwater photography projects including with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. Suliman is also a scuba diving instructor for PADI and is currently working on a field guide to the marine life of his home country of Kuwait. His goal is to spread awareness about the various local marine ecosystems to help boost conservation efforts in an off-the-radar dive destination.

As already mentioned, Suliman’s images have won numerous awards. He has had pictures awarded in the National Wildlife Federation Competition, DPG Masters, Ocean Art, and Underwater Photographer of the Year. His work has also been featured on CNN, BBC, and DPReview, and in the Guardian newspaper and National Wildlife magazine.
 

The underwater jungle and topside jungle merge in the cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
 

A Rhizostome jellyfish shelters a small school of fish, Andaman Sea, Thailand
 

A beautiful manta high fiving its reflection at the surface, Maldives
 

A cave diver exploring a cenote, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
 

A green sea turtle in the sun rays, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
 

The business end of an American crocodile near Chinchorro Banks, Mexico
 

A crab-eating macaque on the hunt for—you guessed it!—crabs, Phi Phi Islands, Thailand
 

Portrait of a blue-ring octopus just before launch, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
 

A whitetip reef shark takes a rest on the bottom, Socorro Islands, Mexico
 

Straight down the pipe of a manta while it slurps up plankton, Maldives
 

A sea lion curiously eyes the camera from a distance, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
 

An emperor cuttlefish halting the forward progress of the photographer with two raised tentacles, Maldives
 

A large Galápagos shark makes a turn off the Socorro Islands, Mexico
 

The famous jack school of Cabo, Mexico
 

For more of Suliman’s awesome imagery, head over to his Instagram page.