Amber Hunting

• Photographer
  Violetta Kaszubowska, Poland

It was really cold night on the first day of 2016 in Łeba, a small town
on the Baltic Sea in Poland, and there was ongoing work with beach
replenishment. Wet sand was pumped from the sea on to the shore to
build up the beach. It is forbidden to be anywhere near those works,
but the desire to find amber is so strong that, despite the warnings
and freezing weather, many people came to look for amber in the
pumped sand and water.
People used UV lights, because amber shines in it with orange-yellow
colour and is easier to find in the dark.
The scene was both surprising and poetic for me thanks to the
sudden/vivid patches of colour and light within surrounding darkness.
To achieve a picturesque and unrealistic effect, I decided to edit the
pictures against all rules, making them brighter and minimizing
contrast.