Stefaan and his horse Dina from Kristina Steiner’s winning photo story Kristina Steiner for Onewater
Shrimp fisher Stefaan, ably assisted by his horse Dina, wades deep into the summer waters of the North Sea off Oostduinkerke in Belgium. The use of funnel-shaped nets and large Belgian draft horses to fish dates back centuries. This striking shot by German photographer Kristina Steiner is part of a set of her images that won first prize in a competition on the theme of humanity’s connection to water, organised by UNESCO and non-profit organisation .
More than 8000 images were submitted by 796 photographers from 114 countries to the Walk of Water photo story competition, featuring everything from sea rescue operations and the devastating reality of Amazonian droughts to the traditions of salt extraction in Vietnam.
Gastón Zilberman’s image of stranded fishers in what was once Bolivia’s second-largest lake Gastón Zilberman for Onewater
The youth award went to Gastón Zilberman for his photo story on the Qotzuñi people and the disappearance of Bolivia’s second-largest lake. In the shot above, Florencio, Pablo, Cipriana and Félix Mauricio sit in a boat stranded on the salty desert that was once Lake Poopó. The Qotzuñi have turned to crafts for survival now that their ancestral fishing grounds have vanished due to climate change.
Jaime Gómez took the merit prize for his shots of South Korea’s haenyeo, or sea women Jaime Gomez for Onewater
Winning the merit prize was Jaime Gómez’s photo story about South Korea’s haenyeo, or sea women. In this image, one of these divers is preparing to plunge beneath the surface in search of mussels, continuing the centuries-old South Korean tradition that demands strong breath control and the ability to navigate powerful currents.
Emen practises traditional whaling techniques in Tianxiao Wang’s shot Tianxiao Wang for Onewater
Tianxiao Wang’s image from Indonesia shows 16-year-old Emen, who practises traditional whaling techniques alone every afternoon, leaping off the rocks into the sea. “Becoming a whale hunter,” said Emen, in an announcement about the awards, “is not about proving our skills to others. It is about carrying the weight of tradition – piercing through the modern world’s misconceptions with a harpoon.” Wang’s photo story took second place in the youth section of the prize’s South-East Asia category.
Solmaz Daryani’s shot of a former port on Lake Urmia in Iran Solmaz Daryani for Onewater
Finally, Solmaz Daryani’s image from the Iranian city of Sharafkhaneh shows a former port on Lake Urmia – at one time the largest lake in the Middle East. Taken in 2017, it shows wooden mooring poles once used to tie up boats. Even at this time, the lake had shrunk to 10 per cent of its former size due to drought, damming and groundwater extraction. Daryani was awarded a merit prize in the global category for the prize.
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