Debbie Newton, The Boy & His Fish (DOCO 2024)

The Boy & His Fish is a photo series captured in Diapila - a tiny fishing village in northwest Palawan located off mainland Philippines. During a quiet, early morning on Diapila Beach, I noticed a banca fishing boat bobbing up and down in the calm waters close to shore. It sat there for a while, with the crew of three men standing atop it patiently and watching. After some time, emerging through the lush palm trees fringing the shoreline, close to 50 locals made their way towards the boat and began wading into the water. They were going to help bring the banca boat onto the shore. It was a remarkable thing to witness. With a rope tied to the front of boat, the locals positioned themselves - some to the front with the rope ready to pull the boat, some to both sides under the outriggers and the back ready to push, and some carrying large logs to place under the banca boat to help roll it onto the shore. With everyone in position, and carefully timed as the waves approached, there was an almighty roar from the Filipino man at the back of the boat signalling that it was time for the locals to push and pull in unison with the incoming wave. This display of physical strength and community spirit went on for close to an hour. Off to the side was a young Filipino boy perhaps four years old. He of course was not at all interested in the mammoth community effort happening behind him...he was so enamoured by the fish he was holding in his hands. His big beautiful smile as he was running around showing everyone his fish was pure joy.

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