Médaille d'argent dans la catégorie « Underwater »

The sardines in Moalboal, Philippines are an unknown phenomenon. No one is sure why they are there. In the early hours of the morning, huge bait balls form, uniting as one to meet with freedivers. I was travelling on my own and in search of a model to shoot with. I reached out to Irish over Instagram, having seen she had been there before. Lucky for me, she was a local and thrilled to help out. Together we created this magical series, trying out different perspectives and positions, you might think you know how the sardines will behave, but you are constantly surprised. These images are no deeper than about 10m, it gets exhausting quickly for both model and photographer. You lose light the deeper you go, visibility is variable depending on your distance, the marine life is on its own clock - the possibilities are infinite, both the greatest and the missed takes.