Freelance photographer Ahmad Mansour has won a prestigious photography award for an image captured on his mobile phone in Alexandria, Egypt. The photograph, taken in the Al Max fishing neighbourhood, shows sardine fishermen from an elevated perspective.
Mansour climbed a small building to achieve the split-level composition, inspired by a similar image he had seen. 'The sun was bright and it was very loud; the water was running strongly and the men were shouting,' he recalled. 'I love the top view angle; it suited the colours to balance them like this.'
The photographer explained that he did not have access to a camera in 2019 but was not deterred. 'It depends most of all on your vision, and striving to capture that,' he said. 'I hope people see this like a snapshot of a movie; a small moment in time.'
Since the image was taken, much of the area around the canal has been renovated, with many fishermen relocating closer to the sea. 'The fishermen no longer gather there as they used to,' Mansour noted.
