About Leonid

As a child, I remember being glued to the television when Jacques Cousteau was standing on the bridge of the Calypso directing the documentary series The Cousteau Odyssey. He brought a strange, exotic underwater world to me, a boy from landlocked Switzerland.

In 1989 it was my turn. During a year of back-packing through Asia I completed a diving course in Phuket, Thailand. The next stop on my itinerary was Sabah in Borneo. There I was told of a tiny island called Sipadan. Discovered for diving by Jacques Cousteau. After diving there, I was hooked for life.

Diving was a sideshow for the next twenty-five years where building a business and raising a child took center stage. When there was more time for it again, I took up underwater photography. Realizing that without proper equipment the choice of subjects would be limited, I purchased a Nikon D810 in 2016 and a SEACAM underwater housing. While I have visited many other dive spots across the world before, all photos exhibited here were taken with this equipment.

I will add photos from many more interesting underwater destinations to this website over the coming years.

My aim is to bring the awesome underwater world closer to an interested viewer who may not be aware of the plethora of beautiful, funky animals and coral that populate our oceans.

What I hope for the most is that these photos will do their part in raising awareness of what we are about to destroy.

The oceans, and in particular coral reefs, are under an existential threat. Millions of tons of garbage, much of it plastics, are discarded into the oceans threatening marine life and ultimately our lives. Steadily increasing air temperatures heat up the oceans killing coral reefs and marine animals. Unsustainable fishing brings many species close to extinction.

The sea and its inhabitants are in dire need of ambassadors. Please become one.