Who am I?

I’m Martin Splitt, underwater photographer from Zurich, Switzerland.

Exhibitions

Stage Space, Zurich, 2025

Artbox Expo, New York, 2025

Unterwasser Festival 2024, Zurich

Why I dive

From early on, water kept drawing me in. Be it a lake, river or the ocean - I felt at home, whenever I was near, on, in or under the water. It covers a part of our world and I always wanted to explore what lies beneath the surface.

When I was 8 years old, I saw a documentary of the underwater world of the Maldives and it left a lasting impression on me. I wanted to become an underwater explorer, I wanted to see this world with my own eyes and enjoy being immersed for more than a single breath.

I finally became a certified diver in 2019 in the Seychelles and quickly became enarmored. Sure, for many it’s the beautiful colors of coral reefs, the schools of pretty fish surrounding them that draws them underwater - and I absolutely adore these dives, too. But for me, it’s the unknown world below, the weightlessness and the feeling of visiting an alien place.

That’s why I didn’t want to limit my diving to faraway places on vacation, but wanted to explore the lakes, rivers and underwater places in Switzerland, Europe and the world. I try to get into the water at least once a week and I enjoy sharing this passion with others as a dive guide and instructor.

Why I became an underwater photographer

Whenever I tell people I dive in the cold, dark waters in Switzerland, Europe and elsewhere, most people can’t believe it. They think “there is nothing to see” or “it’s murky and grey”. It could not be farther from the truth - even in Switzerland we have colors and wildlife, if not as vibrant as a tropical reef, but surely worth exploring.

I wanted to share these moments with others and what better way then to tell stories from the deep in pictures?

My gear

For those interested, here is what I use for my photography as well as my diving.

My photo gear

For the more challenging conditions, I’m using a Sony camera setup:

• Sony Apha 7S III
• Sony Alpha 6600
• X-Adventurer M8000 video lights

For dives requiring lightweight setups, I use a variety of actioncams:

• Insta360 Ace Pro for quick shots in good lighting conditions
• Insta360 X4 for 360 videos
• DJI Osmo 5 Pro for low-light situations

I usually use Wurkkos DL07 lights for the action cams.

My dive gear

I usually dive sidemount or CCR, but often travel with backmount gear.

Backmount

• XDeep Zen
• Apeks MTX-RC

Sidemount

• XDeep Stealth 2.0 Tec
• 2x Apeks XTX50

CCR

• Divesoft Liberty
• Salamandre o2 mCCR

Shared gear

A bunch of my gear is independent of configuration, like

• Apeks RK3 fins
• SFTech TNT Pro drysuit
• Mares Flexa 8.6.5 wetsuit
• K01 8mm hood
• Waterproof gloves
• Cressi Big Eyes mask
• TillyTec Maxi Uni lamp with various LED modules
• Shearwater Perdix 2 & Perdix AI computers

Beyond photo and video

Besides photography and cinematography I also share the passion of diving with others by being a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer in Zürich. Together with Jan Kirchhof, I’m hosting the Dekozeit Podcast (in German).