A book by Yannis Detorakis

The book is a collection of underwater macro-photography of sea creatures and plants covering the seabed and the water from the surface to 40 meters deep. The writer takes us with him in a “virtual” diving voyage to the vertical walls of Greek Mani, the middle leg of Peloponnese, at the south Aegean sea.

In his own words: “In the image collection the line of photographs is not completely accidental: I tried to make the pictures follow the eyes of a diver in the order that he meets the underwater scenery during his dive. First the shallow water animals, plants and algae, on the rocks, the sand and inside shallow water caves. Then plants and small animals of the intermediate depth zone, from 10 meters down to a depth of 15 – 20 meters, an area with high natural daylight. And finally creatures and plants that prefer deeper waters down to 30 – 40 meters, following the most common order that a diver will find these species during a dive.”

“Macro – photography of marine organisms constitutes a challenge for the underwater photographer. On the other hand even the humblest small sea creature becomes “a strange new life form” in close-up image, revealing great shapes and colors. The underwater micro-cosmos in close – up photography remains unknown and mysterious even for the divers that are much more familiarized with the aquatic life compared to any other spectator. The detail of close – up pictures is impressive and many times over one wonders how all this beauty escapes from the human eye in a simple dive. It is because the macro photographic lens captures incredible details which even the underwater – photographer himself does not have the margin of time to see. This is why close – up underwater photography can be a unique documentary of submarine life and the beauty of colors and forms that reveals constitutes an intoxicating work of art.”

Available editions