COVID-19 Impact on Underwater Photography (2020–2021)

Type: Industry disruption / community response Period: March 2020 – mid-2021

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic, declared a global emergency in early 2020, had a devastating and near-total impact on underwater photography as a practical activity. Diving requires travel, physical proximity, shared equipment, and group boat operations — all incompatible with pandemic restrictions. The industry’s response revealed both its fragility and its resilience.

Immediate impact (2020)

Event cancellations

By March 2020, all major dive industry events were canceled or deferred:

• ADEX (Singapore) — canceled
• EUDI (Bologna) — canceled
• Boot Düsseldorf — affected
• Virtually all regional dive shows and underwater photography competitions

Wetpixel covered travel updates and health guidance beginning January 31, 2020, as the virus spread from China. (^[1])

Retail crisis

With travel banned and dive operations shuttered, underwater photography retailers faced existential pressure. Many resorted to discounts of 20–50% to maintain cash flow. Wetpixel encouraged readers to support retailers during the crisis. (^[2])

Competition adjustments

The Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) 2021 competition, results announced in February 2021, made a significant structural concession to the pandemic: no travel prizes were offered, reflecting the impossibility of guaranteeing dive travel.

Wetpixel’s pivot to online content

Wetpixel Live

The most significant community response was the launch of Wetpixel Live — a YouTube video conversation series hosted by Adam Hanlon and Alex Mustard. It launched July 10, 2020, providing a weekly forum for the community to connect, discuss gear, and share images during lockdown. (^[3])

Wetpixel Live went on to produce 200+ episodes, becoming one of the most substantial audio-visual archives of underwater photography conversation ever assembled. Topics ranged from gear reviews and technique discussions to interviews with leading photographers and industry figures.

Wetpixel Virtual Trade Show

With DEMA 2020 and 2021 impacted by the pandemic, Wetpixel organized a Virtual Trade Show to provide manufacturers a platform to announce new products and connect with the community — replacing the in-person trade show format that had been the primary gear announcement venue since the 1990s.

Webinar series

Wetpixel and affiliated photographers ran a series of webinars covering technique, post-processing, and gear during the lockdown period, further expanding the site’s role as an educational resource.

Industry dynamics

Despite the disruption to travel and in-water photography, the pandemic had a paradoxical effect on gear sales in some segments: photographers locked down at home invested in new equipment in anticipation of a return to diving. The Canon EOS R5 (announced July 2020) and Sony Alpha 1 (announced January 2021) both launched into this environment and still drove significant housing races.

Long-term effects

• The success of Wetpixel Live demonstrated sustainable appetite for online UW photography content beyond the traditional article format.
• The Lembeh-Gulen Critter Shootout and similar events were paused; some never fully recovered their pre-pandemic format.
• The cenote workshop programs with Natalie Gibb, which Wetpixel organized in 2021–2022, were among the first post-pandemic in-person events to resume.
• The DPG/Wetpixel Masters competition adjusted formats and prize structures in response to travel uncertainty.

References

• ^[4] — editorial
• ^[5] — editorial
• ^[6] — editorial