CAPTURE THE EXTREME 2024 // Explorer's Choice Award - The Results!
Earlier this year we announced the results of the 2024 Shackleton x Leica Capture The Extreme Photography Competition. We also launched the Explorers’ Choice Award, whereby we asked you to vote for your favourite from the 25 highly commended images that just missed out in the judges’ decisions.
A record number of people got involved, from the Shackleton community and beyond. Having tallied up the votes we are delighted to announce the top three, as chosen by you:
In third place (17% of the votes)…
Jethro Ensor
BEHIND THE SHOT // “I see a darkness..”
In second place (20% of the votes)…
Tamara Stubbs
BEHIND THE SHOT // “Nearly Home: Captured in East Greenland in the small Inuit town of Kulusuk. Greenland is inhabited by Inuit groups that survive off what they hunt on the land and sea. A traditional culture of subsistence hunting still exists, and is navigating the new challenges presented with climate change, for which it is on the extreme front-line of. Travelling across the frozen sea-ice in winter recently has become far more dangerous as the ice has become less stable and weather patterns are changing. This danger has cut off communities from being able to freely and travel adding an extra layer of danger, and made winter hunting much more precarious. Captured on Canon EOS R5, Canon 50mm 1/125 at f8.0.”
In first place (25% of the votes)…
Felix Vollman
BEHIND THE SHOT // “Noah's Dancers - Pole and Line Fisher who stand on a rather slippery edge of a moving fishing vessel in the middle of the Indian Ocean with 4 meters long fibreglass fishing rods, followed by a swarm of Tuna, swinging their rods gracefully back and forth, with barbless hooks flying through the air, catching 1-7 kilo heavy Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna and flipping them with an experienced twist above their heads onto the boat. This technique is considered a very sustainable fishing method as the fishermen catch one-by-one without risk of bycatch (f.e. turtles, dolphins or sharks). Within five days, 10 men caught 12 tones of fish with this technique. The men sleep 4-5 hours a night and once the spotter sees a swarm, alarms the others, and they follow a strict order, in which each man has its to do. Within less than a minute all men are lined up on the edge, no matter the weather condition, no matter which time of the day.
"I have spent a good week with these men on the open sea, following their rhythm, documenting their livelihood of fishing, learning their way, trying to understand their endless love for the ocean and their respect for animals of the sea and therefore their life dependency on it and above all, seeing and feeling their fearlessness, above and below water (when catching bait) and their humour. Most of them are above an age of 50 years and have been fishing since their teenage years. What struck me most is their very strict army-like behaviour of to do’s on the vessel. From fishing, cleaning, sorting, ice crushing (the boat carries about 10 tones of ice), their team work and unquestioning obedience to the captain.
"The photo was taken manually with a DJI Mavic Pro Drone at about 20m altitude above the moving vessel, with a 24mm Hasselblad lens, shutter speed at 1/100 second - to show dynamic movement of rods and water, at 100 ISO with and Aperture of f/9.0.”
Shackleton and Leica would like to thank all the photographers who entered the 2024 'Capture the Extreme' Photography Competition.