Six times winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, awarded by the National Museum of London, he is the first photographer, in the last forty years of the competition, to receive the Grand Title twice: in 2021 and 2023.

Laurent Ballesta is a French naturalist photographer. He is the author of 13 photography books dedicated to underwater wildlife. Co-creator of the Andromède Océanologie company in 2000, he has led several large-scale expeditions over the past 10 years. His Gombessa Expeditions are based on three emblematic values: a scientific mystery, a diving challenge, and the promise of unprecedented images.
From the first photographs of the coelacanth taken by a diver at a depth of 120m, to the hunts for 700 sharks in Fakarava at night, passing through the longest and deepest dives in Antarctica and the twilight landscapes of the Mediterranean, Laurent illustrates the underwater world with a naturalistic and artistic look.