Pietro earned his scuba certification at the age of 29\u2014\u201ca bit late,\u201d he says, because he had always been diving, just without tanks. Straight after completing his Open Water course, he became a DAN member and soon fell in love with underwater photography. In only a few years, he climbed the ranks of competition, eventually winning Underwater Photographer of the Year<\/strong> with a book, Aqua<\/em>, co-authored with Emilio Mancuso. He also was a finalist in the world\u2019s most prestigious wildlife photography competition, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year<\/strong>, run by the Natural History Museum in London.<\/p>\n Pietro\u2019s strengths are a remarkable artistic sensitivity, methodical study of the marine environment, and the ability to dream\u2014and realise those dreams\u2014with a rare personal approach:<\/p>\n \u201cI run for competitions and festivals not just for recognition or media exposure, but to explore trends, discover new ideas, and meet genuinely interesting people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pietro began diving as a child, freediving near his home town of Levanto, Liguria (IT).<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was I after? Octopuses\u2014poor creatures! Nowadays I can\u2019t eat them any longer, but back then I was an octopus hunter. A bad one, fortunately; I\u2019d rarely manage to catch them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Then comes scuba diving.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father enrolled in a scuba course, and I decided to join. That\u2019s how I became a diver. I joined DAN immediately afterwards. It was clear to me from the very start that safety always comes first. I began travelling the world, became a divemaster, and taught photography courses. Carrying DAN insurance is as essential to my work as carrying a camera.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pietro\u2019s career takes off. His pictures are getting published in leading dive magazines. As a finalist in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, he even receives an invitation to a gala dinner beneath the famous whale skeleton at the Natural History Museum in London.<\/p>\n \u201cAn unforgettable emotion\u2014the atmosphere, the people present, at the most prestigious wildlife photography award in the world. Another contest I\u2019m very fond of is the GDT \u2013 European Wildlife Photographer of the Year in Germany. They choose images featuring innovative vision and artistic or unusual photography techniques.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pietro teams up with Emilio Mancuso, an underwater photographer, marine biologist and science communicator, to produce the award-winning book Aqua<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe met because of our shared passion and teamed up to offer combined biology and photography courses. I persuaded him to write for my first book. Mancuso is an excellent photographer, but above all an extraordinary communicator. We complement each other, and the ideas we developed together became more than the sum of our contributions.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n We travelled together, joined clean-ups, removed ghost nets, restored seagrass habitats. Our latest project is a documentary called Marine Animal Forest. It focuses on the importance of these habitats, which are not well known but essential for life on Earth. Emilio has a motto that has become our mantra: Avanti Tutta (\u2018Full steam ahead\u2019). A wonderful synergy has developed, and we won\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In Thailand, beginners have been banned from bringing cameras on dives. What is the impact of photographers on marine life?<\/p>\n \u201cPhotographers or not, we can\u2019t pretend to have no impact. Some studies show that using a site for beginner training causes the worst damage. I think we should stay away from sensitive habitats until we\u2019ve got our buoyancy and behaviour under control. In Italy, diving is somewhat declining, but in Asia it\u2019s different: The number of divers is growing, and sites are overcrowded with inexperienced divers distracted by their cameras.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n What can experienced photographers do to minimise their impact?<\/p>\n \u201cFollow the rules and scientific guidelines in protected areas, and learn about each species. Take video lights and strobes, for example: Thresher sharks spend most of their time in deeper waters and are very sensitive to bright lights. Blue sharks on the other hand hang out in the shallows, where there is a lot of sunlight. They don\u2019t appear to be bothered by strobes and video lights at all\u2014if anything, blue sharks are curious.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cDo you dive alone?\u201d is a tricky question for any underwater photographer:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very lucky to share this passion with my wife Ilaria, who is an excellent photographer. We dive together. Diving with another photographer is not the same as diving with a regular buddy\u2014you\u2019re focused on the camera and can\u2019t spend that much attention. I sometimes dive alone if I need to, but usually there are people around, like researchers or dive operators.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pietro\u2019s photographs seek to tell stories.<\/p>\n \u201cWith passing time, I find the work of scientific communication more and more important. I try to combine aesthetics with documentation. The idea is to create images you can hang on a wall for decoration, but that also tell a story.<\/em><\/p>\n For example, I\u2019ve been diving in the Po delta where the clam and mussel farming has been severed by the blue crab population explosion. The blue crab is an alien species that is threatening the balance of the whole Mediterranean Sea and I\u2019ve documented this catastrophe across the northern Adriatic. I visited collection centres in search of more in-depth.information. Many people, and media pundits remark that the blue crab is an edible species. Public awareness that blue crab might be a problem isn\u2019t very developed \u2013 we can just catch and eat them!\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n But an ecosystem made up only of clams and crabs is not healthy. Poor biodiversity is like an open wound\u2014it has no defences. The solution is to restore natural balance, and several projects are pushing in that direction.<\/em><\/p>\n In the Adriatic, I also work with a seahorse recovery station operated by the Experimental Centre for Habitat Protection (CESTHA) in Ravenna. CESTHA has an agreement with local fishermen, who sometimes find seahorses in their nets as bycatch. The fishermen take the seahorses to the recovery station, where they get tagged with a UV-visible elastomer before being released. If a seahorse is captured again, this provides information on the species\u2019 movements and population density to researchers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pietro has more to say on seahorses and the growth of diving, this time in Asia.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some Hong Kong pharmacies, you still find paracetamol and dried seahorse on the same shelf. But things are changing, and there is a shift in the perception of the marine environment. Scuba diving and scuba magazines are doing a good job of raising awareness. Both the seahorse and the blue crab stories were recently published in Chinese magazines. The publishers are delighted to promote conservation messages to their audience.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n On mass communication and social media, Pietro shares the views of many, including Umberto Eco: everyone talks about everything, without knowing what they\u2019re talking about. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But Pietro adds an unexpected point of view:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEverything is treated superficially, but under certain conditions something new always surfaces: look at the science communicators on social media\u2026 in an ocean of superficiality, some are earning real credibility. Something similar happened in music. Out of the flattening, energetic bands emerge and change everything.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alertdiver.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Apogon_1500.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n\u201cAvanti tutta!\u201d<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alertdiver.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC09928-M-M_1500.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe impact of photographers<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alertdiver.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/monster_1500.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSafety<\/h2>\n
Storytelling for conservation<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alertdiver.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/octopus_1500.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow important is music to Pietro?<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alertdiver.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/shark_1500.jpg\")
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