PETR POLáCH
Landscape of flooded caves

The photographs you see in this series depict the landscape of flooded caves in the Yucatan, Mexico. Over the course of a long geological evolution, extensive cave systems hundreds of kilometres long have been created on this peninsula. They are completely flooded with water and accessible only to cave divers. In most cases, the caves are decorated with magnificent stalactites. The world's unique natural formations, found in only one place in the world, the El Zapote cenote, are large bell-like formations, therefore called "Hells Bells". You can see them in one of the photos in this series. It is absolutely dark in the caves of Yucatan and the photographs were taken using a total of five specially modified underwater flash sets.

Author
I come from the Czech Republic. My photography has almost always accompanied my sports activities, including diving. I have adapted my photography equipment to be able to take photos under water and in flooded caves. Caves are characterized by an unfavorable situation for a photographer, that is: absolute darkness. Nevertheless, the world of flooded caves, in which a diver floats in a state of weightlessness between the beautiful stalactite decoration, has absolutely captivated me and forces me to capture this beauty in photographs and share it with people.

Some of my photographic achievements:
* Grand Prize: Chromatic Discovery of the Year 2021 and 1st Place in the „Nature, Amateur" category in the international color photography contest "Chromatic Awards 2021
* 1st place in the international competition „MonoVisions Photography Awards 2021“ in the category „Nature and Wildlife“ with the series of 8 photos

Website
https://www.polachpetr.cz/en

Instagram
@petr.polach.1466

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