UPY 2025

UPY  Black & White - Third
'Earthless'
Zena Holloway

This image takes place in the Ring of Cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico where the ancient Mayans believed the underground rivers were a gateway to another world. The Ring of Cenotes were created sixty-six million years ago when a colossal asteroid struck Earth. The impact was so powerful that it left behind a crater 180 kilometers across, and brought about climate change that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Throughout this region rivers now flow, deep underground through limestone rock that has, in places, collapsed to leave these remarkable caverns. In 2019 I was in Mexico, working on a photographic project about escaping gravity, inspired in part by the 50th anniversary of the moon landings. Whilst searching for ‘another world’ I followed Brazilian free-diver and renowned conservationist, Flavia Eberhard, through a dark underwater passage and we emerged into this vast, unexplored space.

Judge's comment: At first glance a simple image, whose power blooms as you are drawn into the perfection of the details. The geometric precision of the composition, the balletic pose of the model, the flow of her hair, the position of her hand, her intersection with the light. This image discards the extraneous and delivers impact in concentrated form.
- Alex Mustard