UPY 2025

UPY  Black & White - Third
'The cloud'
FABRICE GUÉRIN

Diving in a cenote is a unique experience. A particular atmosphere reigns when the sun rays penetrate. In some of them, a cloud of sulfur in suspension gives us the impression of being in another world. The challenge of this dive was to see this famous cloud. Indeed, originally, the hydrogen sulfide layer is flat. So I asked the freediver to go back and forth on it. The layer dispersed and formed successive layers of smoke. Not easy to render this effect but with a little imagination we could believe that we are above the clouds.

Judge's comment: The devil is in the detail and the hand gesture is the icing on the photographic cake here. Viewed small it might go unnoticed but the bigger you look at it, the better it gets.
Peter Rowlands