UPY 2025

UPY 2019 Up & Coming - Highly Commended
'Window cleaner's nightmare'
Michal Bazala

The idea during this dive, that inspired me and my diving partner Lukasz Wrona, was to look for some comic behaviour of a diver underwater. We had couple of opportunities: the Zakrzowek quarry bottom is full of plane and car wrecks, submerged intentionally for divers. I was inside the AN-2 plane wreck and asked Lukasz to do one of his theatrical expressions without his regulator. The only broken window seemed to be the perfect frame for this setup. Diatoms covering the glass made the colour, and I overexposed a bit the background to lit them up with the available light. The wreck lies at 12 m depth, however in these cold waters the light is already dim. For that reason, I used one strobe to fill the cockpit with light.

Judge's comment: Your comic behaviour worked well so continue to explore these ideas in the future! It is this type of image that you find yourself engaged with looking around the frame. The directed eyes of the diver. The absence of his demand valve. Come inside the place and we the viewer will visually comment on how the windows need a 'dam good cleaning'. The cockpit comes into view, in particular the flight controls which I may say have been illuminated particularly well. A great fun shot!
Martin Edge.