Judges

Mathieu Meur

Underwater Photography Shootout Judge
All categories - except Neville Coleman's

Mathieu Meur is an underwater photographer based in Singapore. He authored a PADI Underwater Digital Photographer Distinctive Specialty in 2001, co-authored An Essential Guide to Digital Underwater Photography in 2004, as well as its sequel An Advanced Guide to Digital Underwater Photography in 2007. Mathieu is a regular contributor to international diving publications, and has been a speaker or judge at numerous international underwater photography events. Mathieu is always happy in the water, be it capturing the beauty of large reef denizens, majestic wrecks, or the tiniest of subjects. Mathieu is also one of the judges of the 2011 Underwater Festival.

Stephen Wong & Takako Uno

Underwater Photography Shootout Judges
All categories - except Neville Coleman's

Full time husband and wife marine photojournalists, Stephen & Takako’s works have been published in over 20 countries and 100 individual journals & publications, including National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Nature’s Best, Unterwasser & GEO. Their works have appeared in more than 40 photo exhibitions, including Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History & Monterey Bay Aquarium. In 2009, both of them have been inducted as members of the prestigious “Ocean Artists Society”. Their images have received dozens of awards in international photo competitions, including four times in the renowned BBC Wildlife Photo Contests. Takako has discovered four new species of Nudibranchs. Stephen and Takako’s images have appeared in over 70 books, including co-authorship of “Sipadan-Mabul Islands”, “Celebrate the Sea” & “Gorontalo Hidden Paradise”. The couple’s signature publication, “An Ocean Odyssey” - a 240-page wide blue pictorial anthology, has received broad international acclaims. Stepen and Takako are also official judges of the 2011 Underwater Festival.

Neville Coleman

Underwater Photography Shootout Judge
Neville Coleman category

Neville Coleman is a multi-award winning photographer, naturalist and author of over 50 books on marine natural history and diving. We are proud to have this underwater pioneer and one of the most passionate diver you will ever meet as one of the major supporters of the Underwater Festival since its inception in 2007. Neville will be part of the Heron Island Fringe Event in 2011. Neville is also the judge of his own 'Neville Coleman' critter category as part of the Underwater Festival and will also do book signings during ODEX.

Tony Wu

Underwater Photography Shootout Judge
Behaviour, Big Stuff + Super macro categories

Tony Wu is one of Asia's leading underwater photographers. He has won a number of awards, including the Grand Prize for Best Book of the Year at the World Festival of Underwater Pictures in Antibes for his first book, Silent Symphony. In recent years, Tony has been at the forefront of experimenting with new equipment and techniques associated with the crossover from analog to digital technology. The primary theme in his work is storytelling, and he is particularly keen on exploring the unique possibilities opened up by the use of multi-media formats. In addition to his online portfolio, Tony also maintains a blog, where he shares images, video and thoughts from his travels.

Gary Bell

Underwater Photography Shootout Judge
Behaviour - Sex - Over/under and Super macro

Gary Bell is an award winning nature and wildlife photographer and was one of the judges for the Australasian Underwater Photographer of the Year competition. His underwater images have featured in major magazines and books throughout the world, limited edition coins, postage stamps, newspapers, advertisements and signage. Gary's latest coffee table book, The Great Barrier Reef - A World Heritage National Park, contains more than 250 vibrant portraits of the Great Barrier Reef. He has worked on assignment for National Geographic magazine and Television division, Australia's CSIRO Division of Fisheries, Australian Geographic magazine, Travelling in Australia magazine and other nature related journals. In 2003, Gary and his wife, Meri, launched OceanwideImages.com - one of the world's most comprehensive collections of marine life pictures.

Aaron Wong

Underwater Photography Shootout Judge
Divers + Over-under categories

For over a decade, commercial photographer Aaron Wong has shot for fashion magazines, celebrity profiles, and advertising campaigns all over the world with clients like Levi’s and Elle, and with celebrities like Gong Li and Mandy Moore. No stranger to water, the native Singaporean has been going out to sea since he could remember. But it wasn’t until 2004 that he took the plunge into the world of underwater photography. Since that momentous date, he’s garnered several international underwater photography awards including BBC wildlife photographer, Our World Underwater, and Through the Lens. In 2006 Aaron merged his two greatest passions by bringing fashion photography underwater in his ongoing “WATER.COLORS” project. Images from WATER.COLORS have won awards, fronted ad campaigns, and featured prominently in fashion magazines. Recently, Aaron was chosen by Sony to produce a series of images based on his WATER.COLORS project for Sony’s latest line of DSLR cameras. Aaron now divides his time between studio work and the exploration of Asia’s tropical waters, while dreaming of crazier ideas to shoot.