UPY  British Waters Living Together - Commended}

UPY  British Waters Living Together - Commended
'Times they aren't a-changing'
Barney Smith

For a while I've been searching for a poignant image to reflect my experiencing photographing the waters in the UK. After taking the first image of the kelp underwater whilst snorkelling in Pembrokeshire, I drove back home along the M4 through Port Talbot and noticed how the huge fires and plumes of heavy industry mirrored the kelp rising up to the surface. I used a combination of my Hasselblad 500cm film camera from the 1960s and a new modern digital sensor to take both images, merging them later on in Photoshop. By using a combination of cameras & sensors from the past 50 years, I hoped to illustrate that although our relationship with the UK coastline has changed, we're still set in our ways when it comes to pollution and dependence on fossil fuels.

Judge's comment: I loved this image right from the start and never tired of it but the visual message could easily be overlooked by non divers. Subtlety is powerful if you get the message.
Peter Rowlands