UPY 2025

UPY  Black and White - Commended
'Flatfish Junior'
Mark Drayton

Capturing blackwater photographs of the strange and wonderful creatures that each night emerge from the safety of the ocean depths to feed closer to the surface has become popular in recent years. The images can be both graphically strong and interesting, and their acquisition challenges diving and photographic skills. However, the shots can feel repetitive and may tend towards record photography, offering few obvious opportunities for image-making creativity. This small and translucent larval flatfish was in its pelagic phase before settling on the seabed and strobe lighting revealed its beautiful internal anatomy almost like an x-ray. I chose a monochrome conversion to emphasise the body texture and structure and then reversed the tone curve to produce a high-key negative image on a pure white background. This was inspired by exquisite 19th century pencil drawings illustrating biologic scientific texts and offers an alternative presentation style to conventional blackwater images.

Judge's comment: Inverting images is a known method of differentiating blackwater images, but Mark’s stunning shot goes way beyond the visual trick, encouraging the viewer to focus on the exquisite internal structure of this tiny, translucent flatfish.
- Alex Mustard