Mike Foo, Fishing Under The Kintaikyo Bridge (TRAVEL 2025)

Constructed in 1673, this is one of Japan's famous bridges and a regular sightseeing destination for travellers. The Kintaikyo bridge consists of five arches cleverly designed to span across the Nishiki River, which is located in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. The bridge is currently aimed for World Heritage status. My initial sentiment was that I didn’t hold much optimism for pictures there. A cursory glance of tourist brochures didn’t seem to show much possibility for street shots there - it was just a bridge with some historical significance. However on reaching the site, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of activity under the bridge. Some avid fishermen were wielding unusually long rods and tucked themselves under the bridge. Mind you, this was in the middle of Japan’s hottest summer. As I walked along the bridge, I hovered over one of them and took a few shots from the top keeping him in one corner of the frame while his long rod extended to the opposite corner. A few backup shots more I was done from that angle. In trying to give some context to the pictures, I moved myself to the edge of the river framing my shot with the length of the bridge spanning across the frame. Coincidentally, there is a silhouette of a fisherman in that shot. In another frame, I closed in on him and took one while he was looking at me training my lenses on him. Looking back on the trip to Japan, these shots seem to be uncommon amongst the typical pictures taken of Japan. I hope to share them with the readers here.

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