Celia Kujala is an international award-winning wildlife and underwater photographer. From the moment she saw California sea lions for the first time at the Prospect Park Zoo when she was fourteen months old, she felt a special bond with them. However, it wasn’t until she got scuba certified and started underwater photography in 2017 that she found her true calling. She is currently working on a project called Seal Peace about all the species of pinnipeds in the world. Through her photography she hopes to engender an appreciation for each individual species as well as their diverse environments and the challenges those environments are facing. A researcher by trade, she strives to learn everything she can about her subjects before she meets them in order to most accurately and intimately tell their stories. She is honored to be a member of the Explorers Club, Ocean Artists Society and a prior recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship.