MBIM Royal British Institute of Marketing (CIM)
AAMI Australian Marketing Institute Associate
AIMM Australian Institute of Management
BA (Econ) Bristol U.K.
Honorary Technical Assistant — Queensland Museum
Honorary Associate — Australian Museum
Senior Fellow International League of Conservation Photographer
Fellow The Explorer Club
SCUBA Instructor Trainer NAUI # 11245L Life member
International Scuba Instructor NAUI,CMAS,SSI

Michael AW — Ocean Advocate & Explorer, Underwater Photographer, Conservationist, Visionary, Expedition Leader

Michael is an internationally acclaimed ocean explorer, photographer, and conservationist whose life’s work bridges science, art, and activism. For more than three decades, he has been one of the world’s leading visual chroniclers of the ocean, dedicating his career to revealing both its sublime beauty and its urgent fragility.

Born in Singapore and based in Australia, Michael’s journey from advertising professional to global ocean advocate has taken him to the planet’s most remote and challenging frontiers — from the coral gardens of Indonesia to the frozen realms of the Arctic and Antarctic. His passion for exploration is matched only by his devotion to conservation and storytelling that inspires global action.

A Legacy of Exploration and Discovery
Michael has led or participated in more than 150 expeditions, including leading five Explorers Club Flag Expeditions spanning both poles:

1. Elysium Shackleton Antarctic Visual Epic (2010, Flag 108)
2. Elysium Artists for the Arctic (2015, Flag 101)
3. Hidden Ocean: Chukchi Borderland Arctic Expedition (2016, Flag 61)
4. Antarctic Climate Expedition (2023, Flag 61)
5. Bears Ice Glaciers Arctic Climate Expedition (2025, Flag 61)

Through these groundbreaking missions, Michael has united scientists, artists, youth leaders, and policy makers to document the accelerating transformations of Earth’s polar regions. His leadership has yielded not only scientific reports and documentaries, but also global resolutions — such as the Antarctic and Arctic Ocean Resolutions — calling for urgent action toward net-zero emissions by 2035.

Earlier in his career, Michael pioneered large-scale environmental documentation projects that redefined underwater exploration. In 1995, he directed the world’s first 24-hour continuous coral reef documentation (“Metamorphosea”) on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, integrating extended Nitrox use and science-led imaging for the first time. His 1999 project, 24 Hours Beneath a Rainbow Sea in the Maldives using rebreathers, was the first live-streamed underwater photographic documentation of a day in the life of a submerged reef expedition. A feature documentary was produced for National Geographic.

In 1994, his eight-month photographic study of Bunaken Marine Park in North Sulawesi became Indonesia’s first marine park monograph — later chosen by President Suharto as an APEC State Gift and credited with catalysing greater protection and international support for Indonesia’s marine reserves.

Art, Science, and Advocacy in Harmony

Michael’s career is a rare convergence of artistic excellence and scientific purpose. His expedition Elysium Heart of the Coral Triangle (2018) produced the first baseline data on corals, reef fish, and microplastics in Raja Ampat — the epicentre of global marine biodiversity — blending scientific rigour with photographic artistry.

As founder and director of the Ocean Geographic Society, Michael has built a global community of explorers, artists, scientists, and young advocates devoted to ocean conservation and climate action. Through the Celebrate the Sea Festivals (2002–2018), he brought marine conservation into the cultural mainstream across Southeast Asia. The 2013 festival achieved a landmark victory when the government of Brunei became the first nation in the world to ban the trade of all shark products.
His persistent advocacy also persuaded Singapore Airlines in 2014 to ban the carriage of shark fins on all routes, setting a precedent later followed by other major airlines.

Recognition and Influence

Michael has authored more than 50 books on marine life, exploration, and conservation. His images and essays have appeared in National Geographic, BBC Earth, Ocean Geographic, GEO, the Smithsonian and other international media. He has received over 68 international awards, including the NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nikon Underwater Grand Prix, Our World Underwater Film Festival Grand Master, and induction into the American Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences. As the official photographer for Emory Kristof’s Innerspace Celebes Sea 2007 expedition for National Geographic, Michael was a pioneer in photographing creatures in open water over deep ocean in the dark. Since then, blackwater photography has become a global trend among professional and serious underwater shooters.
Yet beyond accolades, Michael’s enduring influence lies in the movements he has inspired — empowering a generation of “Climate Avengers,” young ambassadors, and citizen explorers who now carry forward his vision for a living, thriving ocean.

A Visionary of Hope

Michael AW’s explorations are driven not by conquest, but by conscience. His lens has revealed melting glaciers, vanishing reefs, and the resilient life that endures against all odds. He has turned documentation into activism and science into art that moves hearts as well as minds.
In every sense, Michael AW is a modern explorer — courageous, creative, and compassionate — whose life’s mission transcends boundaries. His legacy is one of discovery with purpose, exploration with empathy, and unwavering hope for the future of our planet.

Selected Honours:

• NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year
• Nikon Underwater Grand Prix
• NOGI – American Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences.
• Our World Underwater Film Festival Grand Master Award
• Five-time Explorers Club Flag Expedition Leader
• Founder, Asian Geographic
• Founder, Ocean Geographic Society
• Founder, Celebrate the Sea Festival
• In 2008, Stan Waterman conferred Michael with the Peter Benchley Shark Conservation Award from the Shark Research Institute in recognition of his highly-effective and unrelenting campaign against shark fin soup consumption in the Asia-Pacific region. Michael was also a recipient of the prestigious Wyland ICON Award for Conservation in 2011. In 2012 he received the Diver of the Year Award at the Beneath the Sea Festival in New Jersey.

Current Roles:

Founder & Editorial Director, Ocean Geographic Society
Founder, Bears Ice Glaciers Arctic Climate Expedition (BIG ACE 2025)
Ambassador – SEACAM, MARES, Divers Alert Network

Every couple of months or so Michael zips into our office just long enough to commandeer the nearest light table enthusiastically spreading sleeves of 35mm transparencies over it as he quickly offers an outline of his latest underwater adventure. Then, almost before you can persuade him to sign the contract for his previous contribution to the magazine, he is out of the door again…off on another project.

Michael isn’t one to let sea grass grow under his fins and I also know that invariably his photographs will be something special as this book, Dreams from a Rainbow Sea, attests. His dream was to capture on the wonderful and colourful world of marine life. He does that expertly, with an eye on conserving it.

By Marcello Toja, MONDO Sommerso, Italy

There is something rather mysterious in Michael AW’s mode of photography. I don’t think that it is due to the type of camera he uses neither do I think that his works are bright as a result of his camera lenses, because, although he of course uses professional equipment, the same is done by thousands of photographers all over the world. So, what is the reason for the difference, what is it that has brought this lad, a little Australian, and a little Chinese, to the top of the rank in this field worldwide?

I have often said when talking of photography, that every artist expresses himself: the painter paints his interior world, the poet describes his joy or sadness, while a photographer immortalizes himself. If you meet Michael Aw, you will notice that the first impression is one of brightness. His eyes, mirror of the soul, are bright, his face is bright, and his mode of behaviour likewise. Talking to him, one realizes that what was previously complex becomes simple, and problems either do not exist or can be solved.