Singaporean photographer clinches top prize at global competition with image of mollusk and plastic bag
Toh Xing Jie came in first in the Human & Nature Category at the Nature Photographer of the Year Award 2023.
The Sad Poncho taken by Singaporean photographer Toh Xing Jie at Anilao, Batangas Province, in the Philippines. (Photo: Ugly Carrot Studio)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: A Singaporean photographer bagged an international prize at this year's Nature Photographer of the Year Award with a photo of a nautilus clinging onto an empty plastic bag in the ocean.
Toh Xing Jie, 29, topped the Human & Nature Category at the global competition. He is the youngest to win it in the open category and the first Singaporean to do so, said his creative agency Ugly Carrot Studio in a press release on Saturday (Nov 11).
Titled The Sad Poncho, Toh snapped the photo of the lone nautilus with the plastic bag underwater at a depth of 20m during one of his diving trips to Anilao, in the Philippines' Batangas Province.
A nautilus is a type of mollusk that "lives inside its hard external shell" and uses "jet propulsion to roam the ocean deep", according to the National Ocean Service.
“I did a double take at how cartoonish this nautilus looked when I first saw it. But its initial silliness hides a sobering truth," said the professional commercial and underwater photographer.
"Somehow, this nautilus - despite living more than 20m underwater - had found this plastic packaging."
His photograph was selected among 21,474 entries from 96 countries submitted in 2023, with the winners announced during the award ceremony in the Netherlands on Saturday. The winner of each category receives a cash prize of €500 (US$543).
In his acknowledgement video screened at the awards, Toh said that the sobering truth was "like a man with a torn poncho, this cartoonish-looking creature is unable to escape the consequences of man-made ecological disaster and the wrath of nature".
"I observed the creature for a while, noticing its fearful, uncertain, and sorrowful demeanour.
"Its distress was probably due to its confusion on realising the lifeless nature of this desolate vessel it is clinging onto for survival."
The nature lover noted in the press release that nautili are known to latch onto passing jellyfish as a form of travel or to leach on their food.
"I found out from the locals that families would dump trash at a nearby mountain, which would then be scattered into the ocean during the typhoon season," he said.
"I hope this photo conveys the impact of human behaviour on nature and the urgent need for proper sanitation for this community to bring about the much-needed change to protect our environment," Toh said in the video.
Following his win, Toh said that he will be launching a new company, Ugly Diving, which will offer underwater photography workshops, freediving courses and underwater portrait photography.
The award is not Toh's first. He also won the Photo of the Year prize at the Asia Dive Expo (Adex) Voice Of The Ocean Competition – an underwater photography and videography competition – in 2022 and 2023.
