Jialing Cai’s journey to becoming an acclaimed rising star in the world of ocean photography has been somewhat unexpected. The 27-year-old Chinese marine biologist and underwater photographer didn’t grow up by the ocean – she grew up 1,500 kilometres from one, in landlocked Chongqing, China – yet today, her blackwater photography reveals a world most divers never see: trillions of plankton and tiny organisms ascending from depths of 500 metres or more, every night, in waters around the globe. It’s these tiny creatures that she’s become a specialist in photographing, with her vivid shots of these curious animals having secured her the prestigious Ocean Photographer of the Year award in 2023, and now the Female Fifty Fathoms prize in 2025.
Our Managing Editor, Jamie Weiss, had the chance to chat with Jialing about her amazing photos (and new Blancpain watch!) as well as what inspired her to become an ocean photographer and how she wants to inspire other female ocean photographers when she was in Sydney for the opening of the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2025 exhibition at Australia’s National Maritime Museum.
Jialing’s journey began in a university lecture hall, where she first learned about diel vertical migration: the nightly procession of microscopic life from the deep sea to the surface. “I was shocked,” she recalls in our interview. “It means that even if I don’t visit the deep, deep sea like 500m, 1,000m, as long as I’m willing to throw myself out in the open at night, the deep sea would come to me.” That revelation sparked everything: learning camera basics, diving certification, and ultimately, pioneering work documenting zooplankton through blackwater photography.
Image courtesy of Jialing Cai
The image that captured the judges’ attention this year, including Blancpain’s own ocean exploration champion, Laurent Ballesta, was taken during her first-ever blackwater dive. A juvenile wunderpus octopus, surrounded by larval shrimps, crabs, and worms, hangs suspended in the water column like “a living tiny astronaut.” The composition is pristine, the subject otherworldly. That it came from her inaugural dive speaks to something deeper than technique: obsession with discovery.
Jialing’s new Blancpain.
While Jialing explained to us that she mostly relies on a dive computer when she’s in the water, she also loves wearing her Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 38mm, which she describes as being like “carrying a vessel of diving history.” She acknowledges that while modern diving instruments handle the data and precision work today, the Fifty Fathoms remains “a reminder of where it all began”—a fitting symbol for a photographer whose work bridges traditional marine biology and cutting-edge imaging technology.
Image courtesy of Jialing Cai
Jialing joins a lineage of pioneers, nominated by her peers and judged by an esteemed panel. “I feel like by getting this award, I’m getting more exposure,” she says. “I think I’ll gradually get into a place where I will be the one in the position to help other aspiring young women, too.” Her advice for those starting out? “If you do not grow up by the ocean like I am, don’t feel that you’re less entitled to explore the ocean.”
What is the Ocean Photographer of the Year?
First introduced in 2021 by Oceanographic Magazine in partnership with renowned Swiss watchmaker Blancpain (which, if you’re a regular reader of Time+Tide, you’re likely more than passingly familiar with), the Ocean Photographer of the Year (OPY) is a prestigious annual competition showcasing stunning underwater and ocean-related photography, celebrating the sea’s beauty while highlighting urgent conservation needs, with winners selected across multiple categories like Wildlife, Fine Art, and Conservation, culminating in an overall title awarded by Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain.
Jialing won the overall OPY prize in 2023, and this year, in 2025, won the Female Fifty Fathoms Award, which specifically celebrates inspirational women in ocean photography. Unlike the other OPY categories, the Female Fifty Fathoms prize is peer-nominated. Jialing explains that it’s incredibly meaningful to have Blancpain’s support, joking that she’s really “felt like a celebrity”, travelling with the Blancpain team around the world this year to exhibit her photos. It’s yet another example of Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment, the luxury watchmaker’s long-standing initiative to support ocean exploration, awareness, and conservation.
Jialing Cai’s photographs, along with the full Ocean Photographer of the Year 2025 exhibition—co-presented by Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain—are now showing at Australia’s National Maritime Museum in Sydney. The collection includes overall winner Yury Ivanov’s mesmerising “ladybugs of the sea” and work from photographers across categories spanning Wildlife, Fine Art, Conservation, and Human Connection. The exhibition is running from 6 November 2025 to 3 May 2026: find out more here.