UK-born and now Newcastle, NSW, Australia-based Matty Smith is an award-winning underwater photographer, and he will be on the Photo Stage at the inaugural GO Diving Show ANZ in September.
After emigrating Down Under in 2007 in pursuit of furthering his photography career, Matty fell in love with the Pacific Ocean and has now made it his permanent playground.
“Underwater photography allows me to visually communicate to the viewer the majestic feelings of scuba diving and the incredible interactions between myself and rarely seen creatures of our oceans in their natural habitat. I want to generate a compassion in people of how wonderful our seas are and how important it is to treat them with respect,” he said.
“For me one of the most wondrous parts of any dive is the moment that the water engulfs my mask as my head slips below the surface. I think it’s the suspense of the unknown of what lies beneath, the transitional part of moving from one element to the next that feels so magical and the thought of what alien creatures I might encounter.
“I really enjoy and also feel it’s very important to show people the treasures we have in our oceans, how fragile they are and the importance of protecting them. I like to use my skills as an underwater photographer to try to amaze and educate.”
Matty is an ambassador for Nikon Australia and Aquatica Digital Water Housings. His award-winning images have been exhibited in over all around the world, including the London Natural History Museum in the UK and the Australian Museum in Sydney.
He also regularly speaks publicly about his style and approach, writes for several popular dive and nature magazines, as well as conducting regular underwater photography teaching classes.
Matty’s work has been used and published by The BBC’s Blue Planet 2 Documentary, National Geographic, Ocean Geographic, BBC Wildlife Magazine, GEO, The Washington Post, The Australian and The Guardian among many others, as well as featured in TV appearances and The Discovery Channel, Channel 9 (Australia) and Channel 7 (Australia). He has also won over 30 international photography awards of runner up or above including the National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award 2017.
The GO Diving Show ANZ
This annual event, taking place this year on 28-29 September at the Sydney Showground at the Olympic Park, is aimed at showcasing the very best of our underwater world to everyone from raw novices who are either contemplating getting into diving, or have completed their entry-level courses, to advanced divers, right through to technical divers and veteran CCR divers.
There are an array of stages – the Main Stage, the Photo Stage, the Australia/New Zealand Stage, the Inspiration Stage and the Tech Stage – that will play host to dozens of speakers from around the world, as well as a host of interactive features to suit young and old, from VR diving experiences, trydives, a demonstration pool, Bruce the rodeo shark, mermaids, and much more.
Surrounding the stages and features will be a broad range of exhibitors, from tourist boards and tour operators to resorts, liveaboards, training agencies, retailers, manufacturers, and conservation organisations.
The 2024 GO Diving Show UK, now in its fifth year, attracted more than 10,000 attendees over the weekend, and spanned an area of 10,000 sq m of exhibition space, and the Australia and New Zealand variant aspires to reaching this level in coming years.
Entry to the inaugural GO Diving Show ANZ is completely free – register here to get your tickets for what is undoubtedly the diving event of 2024 in Australia. Parking is also free and the venue is easy to get to with plenty of transport options, so get the dates in your diary now and prepare for an epic weekend celebrating all forms of diving.
