Artistic Partners
Upwell is grateful to partner with talented artists to promote the protection of sea turtles around the world.
We extend our thanks to artistic partners for sharing magnificent images and footage of sea turtles in ocean habitats.
Maria Renée Johnson
Maria is a visual artist, writer, and environmental grief-worker exploring ecology, connection, and place. Her work has been shown at the University of Arizona Museum of Art, Saguaro National Park, and Prescott's Natural History Institute, and published in scientific journals such as Cultural Geographies and journals including Terrain.org. She currently resides in her birthplace, the Sonoran Desert, where the coyotes sing and nighthawks swoop at dusk.
Nuno Vasco Rodrigues
Nuno Vasco Rodrigues is a marine biologist with a Masters degree in Integrated Ocean Studies. He is the author of dozens of scientific articles and 3 books on marine fauna. As a photographer, he contributes regularly to several publications such as Oceanographic and National Geographic Portugal. Recently, he was awarded the conservation photographer of the year 2021 for Ocean Geographic and achieved 2nd place in the photojournalism category.
Jason Isley
Jason trained as PADI Divemaster and underwater cameraman in Cairns, Australia. In 1996 he founded Scubazoo in Sabah, Malaysia. Since then Jason has filmed and photographed extensively all over the world. During his twelve year career as one of Scubazoo’s senior cameramen he has had many highlights such as the Disney IMAX production Sacred Planet. His photographs and articles have been published in magazines and books around the world and his images have won several international awards.
Jim Abernethy
Jim is an award-winning underwater photographer, filmmaker, and author. Starting at a young age, scuba diving served as an inspiration for his life's mission as a conservationist. His work has been featured in National Geographic and on the Netflix series Tales by Light.
Jeremy Bishop
Jeremy Bishop is based in Los Angeles and has been traveling and photographing in the water since 2014. He first found his passion for photography and the water by shooting surf with the GoPro in Hawaii. Being in the water has opened his eyes to the unique patterns and textures in nature. His goal is to serve others.
Marcello Di Francesco
Born in La Spezia in 1975, Marcello Di Francesco is a Scuba Instructor specialized in Underwater and travel Photography. In over 10 years of activity he has packed thousands of dives all around the world. He has won many awards including Underwater Photographer of the Year in 2015 in London. He regularly contributes with some Italian and International specialized magazines, his pictures and stories have been published on Mondo Sommerso, Il Subacqueo, Scuba Magazine, Touchen, EZdive, Scuba zone, Asian diver and many others.
Jürgen Freund
Born in Dortmund, Germany in 1959, Jürgen studied mechanical engineering before working as an industrial photographer in Munich. He acquired an underwater camera even before learning how to scuba-dive in 1981 and has been working full-time as a marine and wildlife photographer since 1995. Jürgen has traveled all over the world, taking highly acclaimed images that are published worldwide and is a senior fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers.
Stephen Frink
Stephen Frink is among the world’s most frequently published underwater photographers. In 1978 he opened a small studio dedicated to underwater photo services. He worked as a photojournalist for Skin Diver magazine for 17-years, covering much of the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Florida Keys for the publication. Subsequently he worked as the Director of Photography for Scuba Diving magazine. Most recently, Stephen has been the publisher of Alert Diver Magazine, a beautiful coffee-table collectible magazine for the members of the Divers Alert Network.
Sergi Garcia
Sergi is an underwater photographer and freelance architect from Barcelona. He specializes in wildlife in the Mediterranean Sea. Sergi is a recipient of numerous awards for his photography including the 2015 Gold Medal in the International Photo Contest of Narava. In 2014, four of his images were also displayed in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Ben Hicks
Ben Hicks is based in Boca Raton, Florida and has traveled around the world photographing beachscapes, landscapes and sea turtles. Through photography, Ben aims to inspire environmental awareness by depicting nature in a way that others can connect with. Ben shows an affinity for sea turtles and strives for a more prosperous future for the generations to come.
Ralph Pace
Ralph is a freelance underwater and environmental photographer living in Monterey, California. And, during the winter months, Ralph works on the Hawaiian island of Maui with Whale Trust to document humpback whales. Using his education in science, Ralph hopes to act as an interpreter to simplify scientific messages through imagery to tell science stories. Ralph's work has been published and used by many NGOs for educational, promotional, advocacy, identification and enforcement purposes.
Michael Patrick O’Neill
Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Michael is an award-winning photographer, author and FAA Certified (Part 107) drone pilot specializing in marine wildlife and environmental issues. He has written and photographed seven non-fiction marine life books designed to encourage school children to read, write and become involved in science and conservation. He has presented to over 500,000 kids in more than 400 schools in the US in the last 15 years.
Dawn Witherington
Dawn Witherington specializes in graphic design and scientific illustration. Her biological training and ability to coordinate with experts results in accurate artistic depictions of species, life histories, and ecological relationships. Dawn was trained as a graphic design artist at the Art Institutes of Colorado and Ft. Lauderdale. During a 35-year career as a professional artist, Dawn worked as art director for a number of advertising agencies before establishing her own freelance business.
Daiga Ellaby
Daiga is learning to grow and bloom wherever she is, in any situation, place and season. She enjoys taking photos of the little things that make her, her home and her family life better. She features her wonderful photos in her blog Bloom In Your Day.
Tracy Dorsey
Freelance graphic designer and illustrator of our book “The Grande Turtle Adventure”. Tracy also designed our curriculum sheets for parents and teachers, encouraging kids to learn how they can help turtles live a long and natural life.
To contribute your photos, videos or scientific illustrations in support of Upwell’s mission to protect turtles at sea, please contact us.