Underwater photography has never been technically easier to create, edit and share. But as cameras, editing software and artificial intelligence become increasingly capable, another question is becoming harder to ignore.
How much of what we see is actually real?
That question sits at the heart of REAL FOCUS 2027, the underwater photography shootout organised by Solitude World and Makrogehtimmer, which will return to Anilao in the Philippines and Lembeh Strait in Indonesia next year.
Its 2027 theme is deliberately provocative: “How Real Are You?”
Rather than concentrating purely on technical perfection, REAL FOCUS is built around a clear principle. Marine life should not have to be manipulated, baited or staged simply to produce a better photograph.
The competition will run from 15 February to 30 April 2027 at Solitude Acacia Resort in Anilao and Solitude Lembeh Resort in Indonesia. Entrants must stay for at least three consecutive nights at one of the participating resorts during the competition period.
Final edited entries must be submitted by 31 May 2027, with winners scheduled to be announced on 1 July 2027.
Four Categories For 2027
REAL FOCUS will feature four competition categories:
Macro Traditional focuses on natural presentations of marine life, including behaviour, habitat and detail.
Macro Creative allows photographers greater freedom through composition, lighting, optics and permitted in-camera techniques while retaining the competition’s underlying ethical standards.
Blackwater covers the extraordinary pelagic and larval subjects encountered during open-water night diving.
The fourth category, Newcomer, is particularly interesting.
It replaces the previous Compact category and removes the emphasis on the equipment being used. Instead, it is designed to give genuinely new underwater photographers an opportunity to compete regardless of whether they shoot with a mobile phone, compact camera or DSLR.
The organisers define eligible newcomers as photographers who have not previously won an award, placed in a photography competition or had an image published in a print or digital magazine.
A separate Best of Show award will be selected by the judges from eligible entries across the four categories rather than entered directly.
Full category and eligibility details are available through the official REAL FOCUS information.
The Original Files Matter
One of the more significant elements of REAL FOCUS is what happens before the finished photograph reaches the judges.
Participants are required to provide the original source files for images they might subsequently enter, including RAW files where their camera produces them, before leaving the resort.
The final edited JPEG submitted later must correspond to one of those original files.
That creates a traceable path between what happened underwater and the photograph ultimately presented to the judging panel.
Reasonable post-processing is permitted, but REAL FOCUS is clearly attempting to place authenticity at the centre of the competition rather than treating the final image as an isolated piece of digital artwork.
For underwater photography, where the treatment of small marine subjects in pursuit of images has generated considerable debate over the years, that distinction matters.
Photography That Also Produces Data
REAL FOCUS goes further than asking photographers to behave responsibly around their subjects.
Every competition entry must also include dive data contributing to an ongoing three-year marine species observation study led by marine biologist Dr David Harasti.
Photographers will record information including the dive site, depth, water temperature, species observed, abundance, behaviour and relevant environmental conditions.
The intention is to build observations from Anilao and Lembeh over time that could help identify patterns in species presence, abundance, habitat use and behaviour.
No scientific training is required from participants. They are being asked to record what they genuinely observe underwater rather than make scientific interpretations of it.
It creates an interesting additional role for the underwater photographer: not simply producing an attractive image, but documenting an encounter that may retain value beyond the competition itself.
Solitude World describes the project as an attempt to move underwater photography away from manipulation and towards patience, observation and respect for the animal being photographed.
The 2027 Judges
The full 2026 judging panel is returning for the 2027 competition.
Marine biologist and underwater photographer Dr Georg Nies returns as Head of Jury, alongside Malaysian underwater photographer Imran Ahmad, Singaporean macro specialist Lilian Koh, British underwater photographer and animal-welfare advocate Dr Alex Tattersall, and Filipino photographer, technical diver and author Ram Yoro.
Judging will take place on-site at Solitude Acacia Resort in Anilao.
The continuity of the judging panel is important because REAL FOCUS is trying to establish more than a particular photographic style. Its judging philosophy is tied closely to the principles behind the competition itself.
An extraordinary photograph still needs to be an extraordinary photograph. The difference is that photographers are being challenged to create it without compromising the animal or manufacturing the encounter.
A New Benefit For Every Entrant
There is also a significant travel benefit attached to participation in 2027.
Every REAL FOCUS participant will automatically receive 12 months of Solitude World’s 3SIXTY World membership, a tier normally associated with guests spending between US$3,001 and US$12,000 annually with the company.
Benefits listed by the organisers include early access to selected itineraries and promotions, complimentary Wi-Fi, room or cabin upgrades subject to the programme’s conditions, discounts on equipment rental, Nitrox and laundry, and a 10% year-round discount on published rates.
More Than A Photography Contest
The timing of REAL FOCUS’s message is interesting.
Underwater photographers have always faced decisions about where observation ends and interference begins. Moving an animal, encouraging behaviour, manipulating its surroundings or relying on a guide to position a subject can transform the resulting photograph.
Increasingly powerful digital editing adds another layer.
REAL FOCUS does not attempt to solve every argument surrounding underwater photography. Instead, it establishes its own line and asks entrants to work within it.
As Patrick Neumann, Resort Manager at Solitude Lembeh Resort and part of the organising committee, puts it, the competition is not asking photographers to be perfect. It is asking them to be honest.
That makes “How Real Are You?” considerably more than a competition slogan.
For anyone pointing a camera at marine life, it is probably a question worth asking.
Full competition details, registration requirements and rules are available from REAL FOCUS at Solitude World.
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