The Sifter’s favourite underwater photographer, Alexander Semenov, is back with another amazing gallery. Entitled Living Stones, Semenov explores the different patterns and textures of stony corals in the Red Sea. Captured at high magnification, you can really appreciate the intricate detail and colour on the surfaces of these living creatures.

Corals are marine invertebrates typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual “polyps”. The Red Sea’s reefs epitomize diversity; they are home to more than 200 soft and hard corals. In fact, it has the highest diversity of coral reefs than any other section of the Indian Ocean. [Source]

Red Sea fringing reef platforms are over 5000 years old, and the entire coastal reef complex extends along some 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of shoreline. The Red Sea also contains numerous offshore reefs that defy classic reef type categorization. [Source]

Scuba diving and snorkeling on the fringing reefs of the Red Sea became popular soon after the publicity, books, and films of the expeditions of Hans Hass and Jacques Cousteau in the 1950s and 1960s were widely disseminated. Today, the most popular dive destinations along the northern coast of the Gulf of Aquaba (known as the “Red Sea Riviera”) include Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan. Other popular destinations in the Gulf of Aquaba on the Egyptian side of Sinai are Dahab and Taba. [Source]

Below you will find a small selection from the Living Stones series. To see the project in its entirety, please visit Behance. And be sure to check out more of Alexander’s incredible photography at the links below.

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by

Alexander Semenov

Website | Behance | Flickr | Prints available Photograph by