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Atlantic flying fish squadron, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Our Photographer of the Week is Robert Stansfield, a 42-year-old, multi-award-winning macro photographer from the UK who has been diving and taking photos underwater since 2000. For the last five years, he has been based in Cozumel, where he dives regularly and is now pioneering one of Mexico’s first and longest-running blackwater dives.

Robert started out taking basic underwater images with a small compact camera on a dive trip to Indonesia but was inspired by other photo pros to pursue the activity further and combine his love of image making with scuba diving as a full-time career. He is now a brand ambassador for the new housing manufacturer Marelux, a regular contributor to the Spotted Eagle Ray Caribbean Project, and founder of the Blackwater Cozumel Project, which sees him spending most of his time diving in deep water at night in pursuit of unique underwater images. So, it will come as no surprise to find his portfolio teeming with alien-like larval and juvenile pelagic critters that look like they came down from outer space.

When he is not diving, Robert is also a keen volleyball player who is partial to a good cochinita taco. It certainly seems like he is perfectly suited to life as an underwater photographer in Mexico, so if you find yourself in Cozumel and have never tried blackwater diving, be sure to get in touch and let him introduce you to the bizarre creatures of the abyss.
 

Longarm octopus, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Sargassum crab and pteropode, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Thimble jellyfish with jack, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Rainbow tripodfish, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Sailfin blennies face off, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Eagle rays in black and white, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Nurse shark eye, Banco Chinchorro, Mexico
 

Phronima in salp, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Banded coral shrimp, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Grass squid, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Atlantic flying fish, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Cusk eel, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Check out more of Robert’s eye-popping blackwater work on his Instagram and Facebook pages.