UPY 2025

UPY  Portrait - Winner
'The trunk'
Suliman Alatiqi

The elephant's trunk is one of the most distinctive anatomical features in the natural world and this photo aims to emphasize it. Luckily, he was curious about my camera and was happy to feel it out which gave me the opportunity to capture this perspective despite otherwise bad conditions for an over-under photo (choppy water and poor visibility). In my first attempts, the nostrils were not fully lit because of how close they were to the lens (which was necessary for the intended photographic effect). So I returned at a specific time window when I thought the sun’s angle would be optimal and managed to fully light the nostrils. This added a lot more detail to the key part of the image without which the photo would not be as effective.

Judge's comment: There is irresistible charisma in this crowd-pleasing composition. In this joyous frame, a domesticated Indian elephant cool off in the sea, and curiously dips its trunk beneath the surface to investigate Suliman’s underwater camera.
Alex Mustard