WINNERS

I Was A Ufo

  • Photographer
    Hideki Ito, Japan
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention

This image was taken while I was drifting in the sea with my Nikonos slung over my shoulder, catching waves and light in equal measure. It was one of those spontaneous moments where something unseen reveals itself—the beam of sunlight pierced the water like a signal from another world. The title “I was a UFO” reflects the reversal of perspective: for a brief instant, I felt like I had become the strange object hovering above, witnessing the surfer below disappear into light. Shot on expired film, the photo blurs the boundaries between presence and absence, earth and sky, intention and accide