I fell in love with the sea at a very young age and I am addicted to getting lost in the blue hues of the deep with their incredible density and gradients of colours . My passion for the sea could be called a family legacy. I was born in the South of France into a family with tight links to the ocean.

My grandfather was a naval architect who cooperated with Jacques-Yves Cousteau and designed Cousteau’s boat, the Alcyone. My godfather was a diver and an underwater geologist.
 

I grew up on the shores of the Mediterranean with my fins, mask and snorkel in hand. My passion for breathing underwater came quite late, in my early 20s, when I became a certified diving instructor and gave lessons at a diving school in Spain. It was then, too, that I became interested in underwater photography.
 

For the past 15 years, I've been diving and shooting in most of the world’s seas and oceans including the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, north and south Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean.
Despite all of my travels, one of my favourite places to dive is the Mediterranean Sea. The blue hues here are so unique and cannot be found in any other place in the world and the giant red gorgonians on deep walls are another unique Mediterranean feature.
 

I prefer to shoot wide angle to showcase the richness of the oceans. I especially enjoy shooting large schools of animals while anticipating and reading their behaviour.
 

As a diver and underwater photographer, I am a witness to damage to the world’s oceans by human activities that have largely depleted fish populations and brought species to the brink of extinction because of a lack of interest in environmental concerns.

​

With Brian Skerry and David Doubilet as my inspiration, I hope that by sharing my images I can help raise consciousness for protecting the oceans. My motto is simple but important “Protect the Oceans”.

"PROTECT THE OCEANS"

DAMIEN MAURIC