Photography

Creating art has never been my priority when taking up photography. The driving force and inspiration behind my images are based on social- and environmental concerns. I want my pictures to be documentary evidence of how the planet's natural environment is changing around us and also show the incredible beauty, power and perfection of nature.
The Coral Triangle, where I have done most of my photography over the past 25 years, is the most biodiverse marine environment on this planet. It is an ecological treasure, such as the Amazon or the Congo Basin, and of greatest importance to the future of humankind.
More than a hundred million people depend directly on the region’s marine resources for daily protein and livelihoods. Its biodiversity may hold the key to find cures and vaccinations for some of the world’s deadliest diseases. The Coral Triangle’s natural beauty and cultural diversity is a heritage worth protecting for all humanity.
Today, the region’s ecosystem is under pressure; over-harvesting of resources, illegal fishing practices, degradation of coastlines and pollution are having a heavy toll on the environment and the food security of millions of people. The effects of rapid Climate Change are the most worrying. Powerful storms and floods, ocean acidification and sea level and water temperature rise already costing the region’s economy billions of dollars every year.
I hope my photography can support the many hard-working and dedicated conservationists, researchers, activists, educators and other individuals I have met during my travels, each contributing in their way to make a difference and to get a few steps closer to become a sustainable society.
I don’t know if we are going to succeed, but I know we can’t afford to fail.
The Coral Triangle, where I have done most of my photography over the past 25 years, is the most biodiverse marine environment on this planet. It is an ecological treasure, such as the Amazon or the Congo Basin, and of greatest importance to the future of humankind.
More than a hundred million people depend directly on the region’s marine resources for daily protein and livelihoods. Its biodiversity may hold the key to find cures and vaccinations for some of the world’s deadliest diseases. The Coral Triangle’s natural beauty and cultural diversity is a heritage worth protecting for all humanity.
Today, the region’s ecosystem is under pressure; over-harvesting of resources, illegal fishing practices, degradation of coastlines and pollution are having a heavy toll on the environment and the food security of millions of people. The effects of rapid Climate Change are the most worrying. Powerful storms and floods, ocean acidification and sea level and water temperature rise already costing the region’s economy billions of dollars every year.
I hope my photography can support the many hard-working and dedicated conservationists, researchers, activists, educators and other individuals I have met during my travels, each contributing in their way to make a difference and to get a few steps closer to become a sustainable society.
I don’t know if we are going to succeed, but I know we can’t afford to fail.
Awards
2016 Finalist Travel Photographer of the Year - Wildlife & Nature
2016 Winner 1st place of the Sony World Photography Award - Swiss National Award
Read here an interview by SONY Switzerland with Eric Madeja
2016 Commended and shortlisted Photographer in the Sony World Photography Award - Nature & Wildlife
2016 Winner 1st place BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition - Photo Essay - California Academy of Science
2016 Finalist and shortlisted Environmental Photographer of the Year - Royal Geographical Society in London
2016 Winner 11th place Nature’s Best Photography - Ocean Views - Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Washington / Alert Diver
2015 Winner Merit Medal Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award HIPA - Life in Colour - Dubai
Exhibitions
My photographs have been exhibited at various locations around the world.
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA
Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
Royal Geographic Society, London, UK
Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, Germany
Somerset House, London, UK
SM Aura Premier, Manila, Philippines
UK City of Culture Celebrations, Hull, UK
Stockwell Street, Greenwich, London, UK
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA
Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, USA
Royal Geographic Society, London, UK
Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, Germany
Somerset House, London, UK
SM Aura Premier, Manila, Philippines
UK City of Culture Celebrations, Hull, UK
Stockwell Street, Greenwich, London, UK
Stock Images
My stock images are available for licensing. Feel free to surf, share and download the sample albums below. By doing so, you agree to the Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND), which allows use under certain terms & conditions.
You can purchase a commercial rights-managed (RM) license should you require high resolution Coral Triangle images without watermark. I have many unpublished images in my library, please contact me for specific requests.
We receive a high number of "free of charge" images requests by individuals and non-profit organisations. For various reasons we can only accommodate these requests under exceptional circumstances. Please email us for more information.
You can purchase a commercial rights-managed (RM) license should you require high resolution Coral Triangle images without watermark. I have many unpublished images in my library, please contact me for specific requests.
We receive a high number of "free of charge" images requests by individuals and non-profit organisations. For various reasons we can only accommodate these requests under exceptional circumstances. Please email us for more information.

Farming, ranching, caging, seaweed, pearls, mussels, lobsters, crabs, fish, abalone, shells, shrimp, prawn, sea cucumber

Harvesting, collecting, preparation, sea cucumbers, holothuroidea, Hǎishēn, 海参

Hard coral, Soft coral, Gorgonians

Crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, prawn, krill and barnacles

storms, earth quakes, destructive fishing, blast fishing, cyanide, fish trawling, pollution, climate change, epidemics, siltation, over-fishing

recreational diver, research diver, underwater photographer, filmmaker, snorkelers, marine tourism, scuba tourism

dolphins, porpoises, whales, marine mammals, cetaceans

parrotfish, fusiliers, barracudas, snappers, sweetlips, mackerels, tuna, groupers, batfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, triggerfish, trevallies, rabbitfish, wrasses, surgeonfish, damselfish, pufferfish, boxfish, filefish, porcupinefish, burrfish, tuna, sweepers, bannerfish, squirrelfish, breams, scats, baitfish

scorpionfish, lionfish, gobies, dragonets, sand divers, waspfish, stargazers, stonefish, hawkfish, anthias, dottybacks, sea moths, dartfish, flatheads, scorpionfish, catfish, jawfish, blennies, cuskeels, lizardfish, sand perches, flounders, frogfish

clownfish, anemonefish, damselfish, aquarium fish

fish larvae, fish juveniles, flying fish, oceanic sunfish, mola-mola, sargassum frogfish

seahorse, pipefish, pipehorse, traditional chinese medicine

sharks, rays, mantas, mobulas, shark finning, jaws, teeth, fins

small scale fisheries, fishermen, net-fishing, line fishing, fish traps

commercial fisheries, fish trawling, purse seiner, tuna fisheries, bagang, processing plants

blast fishing, dynamite fishing, cyanide, hookah divers, speargun

jellyfish, anemones, mushroom coral, seapen, hydrozoa, cubozoa, scyphozoa, anthozoa

beautiful scenery from the Coral Triangle

Coral Triangle split-level (over-under) photography. Part underwater, part above water.

mangrove forests, mangrove planting, resources use, cutting, mangrove wildlife, mangrove roots, archer fish, mudskipper, crocodile

mussels, clams, oysters, cockles, scallops

octopi, squids, sepia, cuttlefish, chambered nautilus, mimic octopus, starry octopus, blue-ringed octopus, long-arm octopus, bobtail squid, flamboyant cuttlefish, octopus and squid fisheries, nautilus trapping

nudibranch, slugs, abalone, conches, periwinkles, whelks, triton shell, souvenir trade

people, villages, transports, cooking, faces, children, markets, sea gypsies, bajau laut, resource use

Phytoplankton, Zooplankton

beautiful underwater reef scenery from the Coral Triangle

scientists, researchers, volunteers

snakes, kraits, hydrophiidae

green turtle, leatherback turtle, hawksbill turtle, flatback turtle, loggerhead turtle, turtle egg trade, turtle nesting, egg collecting, hatchlings

amphibolis, cymodocea, halodule, syringodium, thalassodendron, enhalus, halophila, thalassia, posidonia, phyllospadix, zostera, sea vegetables, latok, sea grapes, seagrass beds

star fish, sea star, sea urchin, reef gleaning

filter feeders, sea squirt, barrel sponge, hexactinellid, homoscleromorpha, demosponge, calcareous sponge, ascidians, thaliacea, larvacea

birds, lizards, coconut crabs, insects, monkeys, apes, orchids, elephants, snakes, moths, bats, bees

textures from the Coral Triangle

energy, waves, currents, winds

christmas tree worms, hobbit worm, flat worms, tube worms
Eric Madeja
WhatsApp: +60128382272
Skype: eric_madeja
Email me