Henley Spiers

Aliases: henleyspiersphoto (Instagram)
Role: Underwater photographer, writer, interviewer
Nationality: British (half British, half French)
Based in: Cebu, Philippines
First appearance: 2015 (referenced in forum discussion of fisheye lenses); first competition coverage 2016 (^[1])

Biography

Henley Spiers is an award-winning British underwater photographer and writer. Half British and half French, he lives in Cebu, Philippines, with his wife and dive buddy Jade Hoksbergen and their daughter Apolline (^[2]). His Wetpixel bio describes him as having “an unquenchable passion for the sea” (^[3]).

Spiers’ work spans multiple underwater photography disciplines including macro, wide angle, black and white, and portraiture. His versatility has earned him awards across many categories in prestigious international competitions. He shoots with Micro Four Thirds equipment (Olympus/Panasonic), as referenced in a 2015 forum discussion where one of his close-focus wide-angle images taken with a Panasonic 8mm fisheye was highlighted by photographer albert kok (^[4]).

Beyond his own photography, Spiers is recognized as a mentor in the UK diving community. A forum member credited him alongside Nigel Wade and others as a guide in their underwater photography development at London School of Diving and Dive Saint Lucia (^[5]).

Contributions

Wetpixel Columnist and Interviewer

Spiers wrote 4 guest articles for Wetpixel — his “Conversations with Underwater Photographers” interview series — published through Adam Hanlon’s editor account.

Spiers authored an in-depth interview series for Wetpixel titled “Conversations with Underwater Photographers,” in which he conducted long-form conversations with leading figures in the field. Published between late 2018 and mid-2019, the series featured:

• Christian Vizl (December 2018) — exploring Vizl’s distinctive black and white underwater photography style (^[6])
• Mike Bartick (January 2019) — discussing Bartick’s macro and blackwater specialization at Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao (^[7])
• Laurent Ballesta (February 2019) — a wide-ranging interview covering Ballesta’s deep diving expeditions, coelacanth photography, and planned saturation diving project. Spiers conducted this interview after meeting Ballesta at the 2018 Anilao Shootout where Ballesta served as a judge (^[8])
• Aaron Wong (May 2019) — profiling Wong’s transition from commercial studio photography in Singapore to underwater imaging (^[9])

The Our World Underwater 2019 results article explicitly identifies Spiers as a “Wetpixel columnist,” indicating an ongoing editorial role beyond one-off contributions (^[10]).

Competition Photography

Spiers has been a prolific and successful competitor across major international underwater photography contests. His strengths span macro, black and white, and creative categories, placing in competitions across four continents.

Speaking and Education

Spiers was invited as a speaker at the Philippines International Dive Exhibition (PHIDEX) 2021, a virtual event held over three days alongside Howard and Michele Hall, Adam Hanlon, Tobias Friedrich, Terry Gosliner, Beth Watson, Ram Yoro, Andrew Marriot, Mike Bartick, Alex Santos, and Bo Mancao (^[11]).

His work has also been featured in UwP Magazine issue 120 (May/June 2021), where he wrote about the Under Bath Water contest (^[12]).

Competition Results

2016

• Ocean Art 2016 — Honorable Mention, Marine Life Behavior category (^[13])

2018

• UPY 2018 — Winner, British Waters Macro category (^[14])
• Think Pink Photo Contest 2018 — 1st Place, Macro category (image of blenny peeping from a sponge); won a six-day package to Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, Philippines (^[15])
• Anilao Underwater Shootout 2018 — 3rd Place, Open Macro category. The shootout was a live competition held 27 November to 1 December with 241 contestants from 23 countries (^[16])

2019

• Our World Underwater 2019 — Gold, Black and White; Silver, Macro Traditional; Silver, Macro Unrestricted. Described as “a big winner” at the event, which was judged by David Doubilet, Howard and Michele Hall, Erin Quigley, Lia Barrett, and Abi Mullen (^[17])
• UPY 2019 — Winner, Black and White category. Results announced live at the Go Diving Show in Coventry, UK (^[18])
• DEEP Indonesia 2019 — Winner, Divers category, with image titled “The Underwater Photographer” (^[19])

2021

• UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition 2021 — 3rd Place, “The Ocean: Life & Livelihoods” category. Judged by Jennifer Hayes, Julian Lennon, Joakim Odelberg, Ipah Uid Lynn, and Michel Strogoff; curated by Ellen Cuylaerts (^[20])

Timeline

• 2015: Referenced in Wetpixel forum discussion of fisheye lenses; albert kok highlights a close-focus wide-angle shot by Spiers using Olympus/Panasonic 8mm combo (^[21])
• 2016: Receives Honorable Mention in Ocean Art 2016 Marine Life Behavior category (announced January 2017) (^[22])
• 2018-02: Wins British Waters Macro at UPY 2018 (^[23])
• 2018-08: Wins Macro category at Think Pink Photo Contest with blenny-in-sponge image (^[24])
• 2018-11/12: Competes at Anilao Underwater Shootout, places 3rd in Open Macro; meets Laurent Ballesta who is judging (^[25])
• 2018-12: Publishes first “Conversations with Underwater Photographers” interview with Christian Vizl on Wetpixel (^[26])
• 2019-01: Publishes interview with Mike Bartick (^[27])
• 2019-02: Wins Gold in B&W and two Silvers at Our World Underwater 2019; wins B&W at UPY 2019 (^[28], ^[29])
• 2019-02: Publishes Laurent Ballesta interview on Wetpixel (^[30])
• 2019-03: Wins Divers category at DEEP Indonesia 2019 (^[31])
• 2019-05: Publishes Aaron Wong interview on Wetpixel (^[32])
• 2021-03: Speaks at PHIDEX 2021 virtual event (^[33])
• 2021-05: Writes about Under Bath Water contest in UwP Magazine issue 120 (^[34])
• 2021-06: Places 3rd at UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition (^[35])

References