The Fishing Village That Thought We Were Chinese Spies
Sometimes, getting a photograph is considerably more complicated than simply pointing a camera in the right direction.
This photograph was taken above Funkia Wharf, a fishing village in Sierra Leone. But getting the drone into the air, let alone capturing this image, turned out to be quite an experience.
To reach the waterfront, we had to navigate a labyrinth of narrow market passages. It was frantic, overcrowded and chaotic. The smell of rotting fish, food and rubbish hung heavily in the air.
Eventually, we emerged onto the shoreline, where dozens of long wooden fishing boats were surrounded by hundreds of people buying, selling and sorting the day's catch.
It was an extraordinary sight, and I knew immediately that I wanted to photograph it from above.
There was just one problem. We weren't particularly welcome.
As we prepared to launch the drone, suspicion quickly turned to hostility. Word spread that we were Chinese spies, and suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by an increasingly agitated crowd.
The reason soon became clear. Chinese industrial fishing trawlers had been operating in these waters, threatening the livelihoods of local fishermen who relied on their small wooden boats to survive.
And here we were, a group of foreigners with a flying camera.
To the fishermen, our presence was anything but innocent.
Yet somehow, amid all the confusion and tension, I managed to get the drone airborne and captured these photographs.
Looking at it now, there's an almost beautiful geometry to the chaos. The boats, the people, the colours and the muddy shoreline all come together in a composition that would have been impossible to appreciate from the ground.
It's one of those photographs that reminds me why I love what I do. Sometimes the story behind an image is every bit as interesting as the image itself. Watch the video below.
