1st place
gold star award
andrea bettancini
italy
title
Big Water
The monster can manifest itself in many ways, destroying every certainty painstakingly built over years of work. Drop by drop, it slowly seeps into the floors and walls, rising from the saturated ground, silent and unstoppable. Or it can roar like a ferocious beast and explode in an instant like the shot of a cannon.
After a long period of drought, Romagna was hit by an exceptional phase of bad weather on May 3rd and 4th, and May 16th and 17th, 2023, in two successive waves. In just a few days, 400 mm of rain fell, normally expected over the course of 6 months. 23 rivers overflowed in over 50 places, flooding entire industrious cities with water and mud, the fertile surrounding countryside, and important production areas. 500 landslides occurred, causing the collapse of roads, bridges, and railways. A new immense lake formed for kilometers, covering the fields and reaching the ancient salt pans, rendering them sterile for years. Municipal authorities issued an evacuation order for the population in the at-risk areas. An important highway (Adriatic State Road 16) is the last bastion protecting the city, dividing a liquid world from the houses squeezed between the Adriatic Sea and the flooded countryside.
The "roughness" and resilience of this people, rooted in their farming origins, remains unbroken. Hundreds of volunteers immediately mobilize in an extraordinary and moving display of solidarity, most of them young. Among them are the "red angels," the lifeguards normally on duty at the beaches, with their characteristic rowing boats, rescuing the flooded people from their homes and providing essential services in a time of need.
I worked in the fashion and publishing industry. The photographic genres I prefer are Street, Travel and Reportage, a photo contest for me is an opportunity for comparison, criticism and judgment by qualified people, an opportunity for growth. I was awarded at the World Water Day Photo Contest 2019, at the Trieste Photo Days 2020 and Italian competitions.
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entry description
"The water is thin," says a man in Romagnolo dialect as he cleans his house from the viscous silt. The memory left by the river was once a promise of fertility.The monster can manifest itself in many ways, destroying every certainty painstakingly built over years of work. Drop by drop, it slowly seeps into the floors and walls, rising from the saturated ground, silent and unstoppable. Or it can roar like a ferocious beast and explode in an instant like the shot of a cannon.
After a long period of drought, Romagna was hit by an exceptional phase of bad weather on May 3rd and 4th, and May 16th and 17th, 2023, in two successive waves. In just a few days, 400 mm of rain fell, normally expected over the course of 6 months. 23 rivers overflowed in over 50 places, flooding entire industrious cities with water and mud, the fertile surrounding countryside, and important production areas. 500 landslides occurred, causing the collapse of roads, bridges, and railways. A new immense lake formed for kilometers, covering the fields and reaching the ancient salt pans, rendering them sterile for years. Municipal authorities issued an evacuation order for the population in the at-risk areas. An important highway (Adriatic State Road 16) is the last bastion protecting the city, dividing a liquid world from the houses squeezed between the Adriatic Sea and the flooded countryside.
The "roughness" and resilience of this people, rooted in their farming origins, remains unbroken. Hundreds of volunteers immediately mobilize in an extraordinary and moving display of solidarity, most of them young. Among them are the "red angels," the lifeguards normally on duty at the beaches, with their characteristic rowing boats, rescuing the flooded people from their homes and providing essential services in a time of need.
about the photographer
I have always been a photography enthusiast, I had an artistic education (Artistic high school, and European design institute in Milan IED)I worked in the fashion and publishing industry. The photographic genres I prefer are Street, Travel and Reportage, a photo contest for me is an opportunity for comparison, criticism and judgment by qualified people, an opportunity for growth. I was awarded at the World Water Day Photo Contest 2019, at the Trieste Photo Days 2020 and Italian competitions.
back to gallery