UPY 2025

UPY  Wrecks - Highly Commended
'In the tornado'
Jean-Baptiste Cazajous

The Togo was a coal transport ship which was sunk by a mine explosion at the end of the World War I in May 1918. It lies on the sand at a depth of 59m in the bay of Cavalaire-Sur-Mer.
With my friend Florian, we planned to take a photo of the front of the wreck. On the day of this dive we barely had time to finish our descent to arrive on the deck at around 45m, when a huge school of fish arrived and started swirling around the hull. I just had time to adjust my settings and take a few shots. Although not technically perfect, the image that finally caught my attention is this one, with a few slow shutter speed which brought a slight motion blur to the school of fish.

Judge's comment: A graphically simple image, not overlit, which captures the feeling of the moment and the circling shoal of fish add vibrancy and life. A classic image.

Peter Rowlands