Jane Cowan, Sacred river (Documentary/Photojournalism)

In Varanasi, India’s spiritual capital, life revolves around the Ganges river. The waterway is simultaneously sacred and utterly practical. This work explores the undeniable magic of one of the oldest continuously-inhabited places on earth, where the subtle play of shadow and light transforms the everyday into the otherworldly. It reveals how, in a place teeming with people, there is still solitude and serenity to be found.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.