The Water Between Us

• Prize
  Shortlist
• Photographer
  Sergiy Antonenko, Spain
• Date of Photograph
  2021
• Category
  Africa
• Website
  https://www.sergiyantonenko.com
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/serjey_antonenko/

These photographs were taken in January 2022 in the village of Ganvie, Benin, one of the poorest countries in the world. During the colonial era, Benin was a key node in the slave trade.
Ganvie was born as a refuge — a village on the water. Like many other places across the world, water here was not just sustenance, but a shield.
Today, Ganvie survives entirely on water. Boats are homes, roads, lifelines. Tourists are tolerated but not welcomed. The residents of Ganvie do not perform. They endure.
“Ganvie” means "we survived". And they continue to survive.

Sergiy Antonenko is a fine-art photographer based in A Coruña, Spain. His practice explores memory, fragility, resilience and transformation through remote landscapes, water, ice and experimental photographic processes. Working with digital photography and instant images transformed through hand processes, he creates atmospheric series that move between observation and abstraction. His work has received international recognition, including 1st Place at the Fine Art Photography Awards and a PX3 Bronze.

Awards AWARDS AND SELECTIONS

2026 — Fine Art Photography Awards (FAPA), 1st Place, Seascape — Icebergs.
2026 — International Photography Awards (IPA), Official Selection, Special / Special Effects — Between Surface and Light.
2026 — International Photography Awards (IPA), Official Selection, Fine Art / Other — The Last Stand.
2026 — Fine Art Photography Awards (FAPA), Nominee, Abstract — Between Surface and Light.
2025 — Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3), Bronze, Nature / Water — Icebergs.
2025 — PX3 State of the World, Honorable Mention — The Water Between Us.
2024 — Life in Another Light Infrared Photography Contest, Honorable Mentions in Black & White and Landscape / Visible Light.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2026 — Solo exhibition, Una historia de pingüinos, Aquarium Finisterrae, A Coruña, Spain.

2025 — NEW VOICES, Galerie Joseph, Paris, France.

2025 — PX3 and State of the World Winners Celebration and Exhibition, 24b Gallery, Paris, France.

CURATED FEATURES

2026 — Curated selection, Saatchi Art’s New This Week Collection, 23 March 2026.