Light in the Underworld

Ten Best Photography Books of 2024, Smithsonian Magazine

An immersive journey into a natural wonder—the underwater caves and cenotes of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, a destination very few divers have ever reached.

Shining a light into the “Underworld” (Xibalba, as the Maya called this sacred place), these stunning images from cave diver and award-winning photographer Martin Broen transport us into a secret and fascinating world accessed from cenotes, water-filled gateways to an infinite labyrinth of tunnels that create the longest underwater cave systems on the planet.

Over multiple expeditions and utilizing groundbreaking diving and photographic techniques, Broen has captured more than 250 different cenotes, their caves, and the dramatic secrets that lie within them, bringing photographs from his explorations back to the surface. Paired with images of startling otherworldly beauty, Broen’s engaging text guides readers through the unique features of the Yucatán cenotes: from dramatic sinkhole entrances to decorated underwater caverns filled with rainbow colors; from ancient time capsules that document the fossil record to the critical environmental role that cenotes play today.

With contributions from Alex Mustard and Paul Nicklen based on their own diving experiences, this volume beckons divers, cavers and armchair explorers into a uniquely dangerous yet beautiful and essential underwater world.

Martin Broen is an award-winning photographer, proficient technical diver, and underwater explorer. He leverages his design sensibility as creator of experiences to craft one-of-a-kind images that encapsulate the exquisite beauty of the planet and its inhabitants, aiming to inspire awareness and foster conservation efforts. Alex Mustard has been one of the world’s leading underwater photographers for the last 20 years. He has a PhD in marine ecology and dives and photographs around the world. Paul Nicklen combines a career as an assignment photographer for National Geographic magazine and founder of his own conservation society, SeaLegacy. He has garnered more than 30 of the highest awards given to any photographer in his field, including the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year.