David Liittschwager Releases Photographing Octopus Seahorses And Jellyfish

Published: July 27, 2022, 5 a.m.

Meet three notoriously mysterious sea creatures and their unnerving beauty



Acclaimed National Geographic photographer David Liittschwager describes his fascination with the octopus, seahorse and jellyfish this way: “Nature loves to hide. I want to see.” And see he does- creating some of the most mesmerizing images of these tiny often overlooked sea creatures.



Liittschwager has spent 12 years photographing octopuses, seahorses and jellyfish in more than 28 locations around the world—from Tasmania to Bonaire, the Florida Keys to the Solomon Islands, Portugal to Japan—equipped with his trusty 500-pound photo studio. Using a white background to capture the smallest of details, including small hairs and translucent tissues, Liittschwager has been able to render the details that would normally go unseen. Accompanying some of the images from the nearly 500 specimens he photographed, are essays by bestselling science writers which further explain the biology of these surprising creatures.



While researchers continue to explore to find new sea life, they are in a battle with time as the planet loses species to human activity such as oil spills, global warming, plastic waste and more.