Yacine Fates: An Algerian Eye Revealing the Secrets of the Underwater World
In 2003, Yacine Fates experienced his first dive. Since then, his passion for the sea has never faded, with more than twenty years spent exploring the depths of the Mediterranean.
In 2012, he added a camera to his gear, opening a new chapter: sharing the underwater scenes he had long witnessed alone.
“I used to dive in beautiful places and saw incredible sights. I wanted to share this beauty with people, and the camera became my way to do it,” he recalls.
Between Diving and Photography
For Yacine, diving and photography are inseparable. Yet he acknowledges that underwater photography requires unique skills: shifting light, moving fish, unpredictable currents, and limited oxygen. “Before being a photographer, you must be a diver. A skilled diver makes the photographer’s work much easier,” he explains.
While he often relies on spontaneity, he sometimes carefully chooses a site and time with good visibility to ensure stronger results.
A Message Through Images
Through his Facebook page, FATES Yacine Photography, Yacine uses his photos as a tool for awareness. He believes that beauty itself is an educational force: “People protect what they love. My goal is to let people discover what exists beneath the surface so they understand why it must be preserved.”
But his work is not limited to beauty. He also documents threats such as abandoned fishing nets, which he describes as “deadly traps” for marine life. For him, the camera is as much an instrument of warning as it is a window to wonder.
Achievements and Experience
Fates has taken part in several national underwater photography competitions, earning recognition in categories related to biodiversity and marine ecosystems. His images also contributed to the National Atlas of Marine Biodiversity in Algeria, in collaboration with the National School of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management.
Beyond his national work, he has been invited multiple times to serve as a jury member at international underwater photography festivals in Tunisia. In 2024, the American magazine Advanced Diver Magazine published a special feature on his career and photographs.
A Coastal Book Project
Currently, Yacine is working on his most ambitious project: a photo book about the Algerian coastline, containing around 2,000 images that document the country’s marine fauna and flora. For him, the book is more than a collection of photos; it is an attempt to preserve the visual memory of Algeria’s sea.
When asked what advice he would give young people interested in underwater photography, he answers clearly: “First, be a good diver. Then, use photography as a way to tell the story of the sea.”
Yacine Fates: An Algerian Eye Revealing the Secrets of the Underwater World
